Change of Life, Change of Heart
by naleylovex3
Summary: Haley James was forced, by her father, to go to a boarding school in Tree Hill. There she met Lucas Scott, his friends Jake, DJ, Skills and his girlfriend Peyton and her best friend, Rachel. Better summary inside!
1. August Is Over

ONE TREE HILL FANFICTION

ONE TREE HILL FANFICTION

Summery: After a rebellious streak Haley James was forced, by her father, to go to a boarding school in Tree Hill for the second half of her sophomore year. There she met Lucas Scott, his friends Jake, DJ, Skills and his girlfriend Peyton. She quickly grew closer with Peyton, and Peyton's best friend, Rachel. She also quickly recognized a connection between her and DJ. Now that she has new friends all she has to do was forget her old life in Chicago, her old friends, and her old love. Now at the beginning of her senior year something happens that brings up a lot of feelings she thought she left behind a long time ago.

CHANGE OF LIFE, CHANGE OF HEART

Chapter One: August Is Over

_Hips sway and lips lock. Like clockwork she's in control of all the right guys and I'm still waiting. _

Haley quickly reaches for her phone and hits the ignore button. Knowing it was Rachel, cause really the song just fits her perfectly, she just figured she would talk to her later. She tried to go back to sleep but soon realizing that sleep was out of the question, she decided to take a shower.

"Up already?" DJ asked startling Haley as he grabbed her arm. _So much for trying not to wake him._

"Yeah, I couldn't fall back asleep"

"What time is it?"

"Umm, it's only 5:45, go back to sleep" Haley said as she leaned down to give him a light peck on the lips "I'm going to take a shower" She said as she started to walk away.

"Well we still have a little bit of time. I know what we could do to fill it," he said with a smirk. As he reached up to pull her back to him

"Really? What?"

"This" he pulled here head down to him and crashed his lips into hers.

"mmm" haley moaned while deepening the kiss. Soon she was straddling him and just as he was untying the strings to her pajama shorts her alarmed started blaring. Leaning over she turned it off.

"I guess we'll have to finish this later, I have to go take a shower."

"Or we can finish in the shower." he teased as Haley started walking towards the bathroom.

"Well are you coming or not?" Haley said with a smirk.

"Oh I'm definitely coming"

As things between Haley and DJ just started to get heated, she heard the loud sound of someone busting through her bedroom door, and the faint yelling of "mystery girl, you here?" Haley had become used to the little nickname Peyton coined her. She started calling her "Mystery Girl" because she wouldn't tell any of them much about her past.

"Yea I'm in the shower"

"Did DJ leave yet? Cause Luke just said that they were actually doing bedroom checks this morning!" Peyton yelled towards the bathroom door.

"SHIT! I'm already in trouble with Mr. Knight. I swear that guy has it out for me! He has some like radar that blinks whenever I'm doing something that he could bust me for!" DJ yelled as he jumped out of the shower and quickly put on his clothes, Haley just laughing at the scene in front of her.

"You think this is funny??" he teased while she just nodded. "Well if I get caught I won't be able to leave my room for like a month and then you will definitely not be thinking this is funny anymore!" he teased.

"Your right hurry up I don't want you to get caught by mean old Mr. Knight, who has to be the nicest person I've ever met by the way, who supposedly has it out for you" Haley said in between laughing.

"Haha, funny! Kay got to go, see you later?" DJ asked as he leaned in for a kiss.

"Yea, after Trecher's class" Haley said leaning in for one more kiss before he bolted out of the bathroom.

"Whoa! I thought you left! What were you doing in there??" Peyton asked with a smirk.

"Taking a shower, bye Peyton" DJ yelled as he was running out the door, as Haley came walking out in her robe.

"Please, please, please tell me you did not have sex in _our _shower!?" Peyton asked.

"Well not really cause you came barging in!" Haley teased Peyton.

"Is there a place you two haven't christened??" Peyton asked as she walked towards the door.

"umm, yea there's…wait no we did it there! Ohhh there's…..no did it there too! I'm not sure when I think of a place I'll inform you right away" Haley laughed as Peyton walked out the room and across the hall.

"Can't wait!" she yelled back over her shoulder as she walked into the open room. "Hey Rach. What's up?"

"Not much, trying to find something to wear. What's up??"

"Oh nothing just trying to find a place where Haley and DJ haven't had sex! I mean the shower?? Come on we share that thing! At least Luke and I use common decency not to do it where other people use it or may walk in on us!" Peyton said while Rachel just started laughing.

"Please tell me you did not walk in on them, _again_??" Rachel managed to get out between her fits of laughter.

"No almost though I was about to walk in to the bathroom to get my toothbrush when DJ came running out of it!" Peyton laughed "that girl needs to learn the scrunchee system!"

"hey I was in a hurry! And I know the scrunchee system thank you very much! I think it's you that needs to freshen up on it cause if I walk in on you and Lucas one more time I think I'll have to burn my eyes out!" Haley said as she walked into Rachel's room. Peyton and Haley continued to argue back and forth, mostly over the scrunchee system and when to use it, as Rachel threw in a comment here or there, but mostly just laughing cause when Haley and Peyton get started you could never stop them.

AN- please read and review! This is my first fic so any feedback is welcomed! The song at the beginning is Shameless by All Time Low. The title of the chapter is a song by We The Kings. All the chapters are going to be titles of songs….somewhat fitting in with the what happens in the chapter. And sadly no I do not own One Tree Hill although I wished I did!


	2. Tongue Tied

AN: thanks for those who reviewed

AN: thanks for those who reviewed. Okay I really didn't explain what was going to happen AT ALL! Lol so yes Nathan and Brooke will both be in the story a little later…not that much later. I'm a total naley shipper so there will be drama with that. We'll just see how everything plays out. Oh and I don't own one tree hill or anything that goes along with it.

CHANGE OF LIFE, CHANGE OF HEART

CHAPTER 2: TONGUE TIED

Haley looked at her book and slammed it shut. She just couldn't stand studying for a minute longer. _What teacher seriously assign homework the second day of school??_

Haley thought to herself. _I wonder what Peyton's up to??_

She left the library and went to her room to put her books back. She opened the door and found Peyton sitting on her bed drawing and listening to music, like usual.

"Hey, I was just coming to find you." Haley said as she entered the room. "Hello?? Peyton?? Anybody home??"

Finally looking up, Peyton took off her headphones. "Sorry, what's up??"

"Nothing, I was just trying to do my homework, but I couldn't concentrate. I mean seriously who assigns homework the second day of school?? That's crazy! I know we've already been here and set up for a week but couldn't they give us a little bit to settle into getting back to school. What do they think that we are miracously already ready for school??" Haley started to ramble on as Peyton started to put her headphones back in, it was best to just let her get it all out now then randomly throughout the day.

"Oh, sorry I'm shutting up now!"

"It's okay. Let's go see if Rachel's in her room."

"Okay. I wonder if her roommate is here yet."

"Wait a roommate?? I thought she got it to herself??"

"Yea she did, but they just told her yesterday that there was a few last minute transfers and she would be getting a roommate cause it's the only open room. You were there when she told us, remember?"

"No. When did she tell us?"

"When you were sucking face with Lucas. At lunch yesterday?! Remember now??" Haley joked.

"Oh! Yea I vaguely remember hearing her loud screeching about something!" Peyton laughed thinking back to yesterday.

"That would be it" Haley laughed.

"Speaking of making out, where's DJ?" Peyton asked.

"Oh, he has soccer practice."

"Already? It's only the second day of school!?"

"Apparently they actually started a couple of weeks ago and DJ missed the first week because he was still on vacation. So now if he misses one practice his coach threatened to kick him off the team."

"Wow, his coach must be a real hard-ass! Lucas doesn't start basketball until next week. But then again they have tryouts this week since a lot of the guys on varsity were seniors and left."

"Yea his coach is a real jerk! But as long as I still get see DJ on a lot I don't mind I just feel bad for him. He thinks his coach has it out for him…but then again he thinks everybody has it out for him," Haley said and started to crack up laughing.

"Okay I must have missed something."

"Never mind," Haley said as her laughter started to subdue. They just got to Rachel's room across the hall and opened the door. When they walked in they say Rachel yelling at a girl whose back was facing them. Then all of a sudden Rachel grabs her jacket and storms out of the room, grabbing her friends along the way.

"So I'm guessing that was your new roommate?" Haley asked with a smile on her face.

"and I'm taking it that it didn't go well" Peyton added trying not to laugh at her friend in front of her pacing back and forth.

"Oh that's my roommate all right! And I have no clue how I'm going to live with her for a whole year!" Rachel screamed.

"Come on, she can't be that bad! You just met her what a few hours ago?" Haley tried to reason.

"Oh she just came in about an hour ago and she barged in trying to change _everything_! She came in there and sat on my bed and started to unpack her stuff onto my bed!"

"What? Didn't she see the empty bed sitting across the room and that yours had all your stuff on it?" Peyton asked.

"Well that's what I thought at first so I politely tell her that that was my bed and hers is across the room."

"So what did she say after you told her that? She moved right?"

"No she ignored me and kept unpacking!"

"Are you serious?" Haley and Peyton both said at the same time, while starting to crack up laughing at the look on Rachel's face, no one has ever intentionally ignored Rachel. "She seriously must be stupid if she thinks you are going to move your stuff when you got there first and had everything already set up! Who does she think she is?" Haley added once they got their laughter under control.

"I know I thought the same thing! So then I told her that "you may not have heard me but that's my bed!" and then she told me she needed to be closer to the window to get more sunlight! Can you believe her?? Like I'm going to change all my shit for her and her need for stupid sunlight!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Okay let's go." Haley said as she started to get up and walk away.

"Where are we going?" Both Peyton and Rachel asked.

"To set this girl straight! She can't just come in here and act like she owns the place! We're going to show her who's in control." Haley told them matter-of-factly as she continued to walk like a girl a mission.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Meanwhile Luke, Jake and Skills were sitting on the bleachers in the gym watching their potential teammates. Since they were already on varsity for the last two years they were automatically guaranteed a spot on the team. Their coach, Whitey, asked them to come by and watch the tryouts to see if they saw anything special in the boys, anything he may not have seen. To see which guys they may what on the team.

"Look at that guy! He's _really _good!" Jake said as they watched the boys play a little game with teams they were split in to.

"Which one?" Luke asked.

"The tall one with short black hair in the blue jersey."

"Yea I was just about to say something about him too." Skills said.

"He's really good! He could really help our team this year! With all the guys leaving, it's only us left and even though we're good we can't go to state with only us." Luke said, while the other to nodded their heads in agreement. He wrote his number that was taped to the back of his jersey down on the clipboard Whitey gave them if they say anyone they liked.

"Okay who else do you think would cut it for varsity?"

"Well we don't have a lot to pick from" skills said looking around at the guys playing.

"I know. I guess that one, with the shaggy brown hair, number 00, isn't bad."

"Yea he looks like he knows what he's doing." Luke said while also writing down his number. "Well with us and those two, we have a starting line up. I guess we can leave the rest of the guys for coach to pick"

"Yea let's go. I think DJ is just ending practice let's go by the fields and see if he's done yet." Jake said as they started to walk down the bleachers.

"Here coach. We wrote down a couple players we think would mesh well with us for starting and figured we would leave the rest to you." Luke said as he handed him the clipboard.

"Okay. Thanks boys for helping out." Whitey said as he looked at the two numbers that were written down. "Good, I was thinking about these boys myself."

"Yea they seem the best out of what we got." Skills said.

Haley, Peyton and Rachel were walking back when Rachel decided she wanted a coffee so they stopped across the street at the café.

"So what exactly is your plan, MG" Peyton asked, using her nickname for her, Mystery Girl, MG, for short.

"Well I don't really have one, but I think we can just go in there and tell her that she can't just move your stuff because she decided she wanted that bed. You were there first you get the rights to whatever you want in the room." Haley told them.

"Sounds good to me. Give her hell, Hales! She's a total bitch. Did I tell you she called me a slut, too?" Rachel told them trying to hold her anger from being released in a scream.

"What? Well she may not be totally wrong with that accusation" Peyton joked, "but she just met you! She doesn't know you're a slut."

"That's what I thought too! Okay so I'm a slut but she hasn't been here long enough to know that already! What does she have whore-dar or something?" Rachel laughed.

"Okay let's go now. She needs to be put in her place" Haley said as she grabbed her drink off the table and headed for the door.

Skills, Luke and Jake walked across the building to go to the soccer fields. Once they got there DJ was just ending his practice.

"Hey man"

"Hey, what's up?" DJ asked to his friends.

"Nothing, we just figured you would be done and then we could go meet the girls." Luke told him.

"Sounds good. Let me just go shower quickly. I'll be back in ten minutes." He said as he started to walk to the gym to go to the changing room. When he finally came out 20 minutes later, the guys were shooting around at the little court close to the soccer fields.

"Hey guys sorry I took so long"

"It's okay. What got you caught up?" Skills asked just as he released the ball and it went soaring through they air and right into the net.

"Oh I just started to talk to this guy. I guess he's new or something."

"That's probably the guy we say at tryouts. He's new and really good at basketball." Jake told DJ.

"Yea that's probably him. He seemed cool"

"We didn't get to talk to him but he seems like he could be cool." Luke said. "Come on, let's go see the girls. They should be in there rooms." Luke said as he put the basketball back in there secret hiding spot.

They walked back across the street and came up to their rooms. Haley pushed open the door and say a girl leaning over and putting something into the closet.

"Okay I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just come in here like you own the place, call my friend a slut and try to take over her room." Haley said all in own breathe before the girl could even turn around.

"Okay first of all I call them like I see them and your friend looked like a slut." Rachel's roommate said as she started to get up and turn around. When she finally did, the color of both hers and Haley's face disappeared.

"Brooke?" Haley barely choked out.

"Haley?"

AN: please read and review! Thanks the title is a song by October Fall. I hope this chapter kind of answered any questions about Nathan and Brooke and stuff. This is just basically a filler chapter. I mean I didn't even have any couple interactions in this chapter! P The drama will start soon I promise!


	3. Running From Lions

CHANGE OF LIFE, CHANGE OF HEART

CHANGE OF LIFE, CHANGE OF HEART

CHAPTER 3: Running From Lions

(italics is a flashback)

"_WHAT!?" Brooke screamed._

"_My dad said this was the last straw, that he couldn't handle me and all my trouble anymore. Which is such a joke! When was the last time he was even home??" Haley said with tears forming in her eyes._

"_So he's just going to send you away? That's not fair!"_

"_Tell me about it!"_

"_I can't believe this! I can't loose you! You're my best friend!" Brooke said as started to cry._

"_I know but there's nothing I can do. And trust me I tried everything." Haley said as she walked closer to Brooke. "Look I know I'm leaving but that doesn't mean that we will stop being best friends. We will always be friends, and I'll always be there for you. I'm just a phone call away." Haley said as she pulled Brooke into a hug._

_They both stood there crying. Crying for the loss they will soon feel. Crying for new life one will be facing. And crying for an old life one now has to face…but with one less friend._

"Brooke?"

"Haley?"

After what felt like an eternity of silence Haley finally spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

"What are _you _doing here?" That's all Brooke could manage to say, she was too shocked to think of anything else.

"I live here!" Haley responded. Here standing right in front of her was someone she thought she would never see again. Someone she let go of a long time ago.

"Well so do I?" Brooke said as she tried to process Haley standing in front of her. A girl she thought of like a sister. A girl she was sure she would never have to see again.

"Hello?? Will somebody tell us what's going on?" Rachel interrupted, referring to her and Peyton standing there, their faces fixed with confusion.

"Who are you?" Brooke asked in a sardonic tone.

"No the question is who are you? You come into _my_ room, acting like you own the place, trying to take charge of everything, and then when we come here to put you in your place, you seem to know one of _my _best friends! So please tell me who the hell are you!?" Rachel yelled right back to her.

"Hmm. Best friend? Really? I use to have one of those!"

"Really used to? I wonder why? Maybe it's because you're a complete bitch!"

"No it was more like she was a complete bitch!" Brooke said to Rachel but looking directly at Haley, and then storming out of the room.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

The guys were just walking up the stairs when a girl they've never seen before came running down the stairs.

"Whoa" Jake said as the girl passed them.

"Who was that? Have you guys seen her before?" Luke asked the guys.

"No she must be new. I've never seen her before" DJ said.

"Yea me neither." Skills added as they walked down the hall to the girls room. When they got to Peyton and Haley's room it was opened but nobody was in there.

"They must be at Rachel's" Skills concluded as he started to walk across the hall with the guys following. When they got to the room the door was closed so they knocked. After a minute of no response they knocked again, a little harder this time. This time Peyton opened the door.

"Oh, hey guys."

"Hey. What's up?" Luke asked as he leaned down for a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey. Is Haley here?" DJ asked but not waiting for an answer as he walked into the room, pushing past Peyton and Luke.

"Um guys it's not really a great time right now." Peyton said as she pulled away from Luke.

"Why? What's wrong" Luke asked with concern lacing his words.

"Haley are you okay? What's wrong?" DJ asked as he came closer to her.

"It's just not a great time. I think you guys should come back later. You know what when were done here, we'll come find you guys. Okay?" Rachel said as she pushed them out the door.

"Wait…." DJ said as Rachel slammed to door in his face. "Okay what the hell just happened?" He asked, his voice full of confusion, as he turned around to face three equally confused friends.

"Haley, what the hell was that?" Rachel asked, basically screaming after trying to get her attention for the last five minutes.

"Hmm? What? Oh, that. I have no clue!" She said, deciding to play the stupid card.

"Yea, okay I'm going to ask that question again and do you want to try telling us the truth this time?" Peyton responded to Haley's poor attempt at trying to play dumb.

"Look it something from the past that I don't really feel like talking about right now."

"You're not going to say _anything _after what just happened?" Rachel asked, shocked.

"No, I'm not!"

"Well you do know the guys are going to ask about it, especially DJ."

"Yea well I can handle it. If I want to tell any of you anything I would. If I thought it was a big deal and you needed to know I would tell you." Haley said as she started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To find DJ." Haley said as she walked out the room, but really she was going back to her room to get a sweater and then she has no clue where, she just needs to think. _Brooke's here. At my school. Brooke Davis, former best friend. A best friend that I haven't talked to in over a year. What the hell is she doing her? OMG, what if he's here too!? No, he wouldn't be here. That's just crazy. _Haley reasoned with herself as she walked into her room. When she opened her door she saw someone she wasn't expecting. _I don't really feel like dealing with this now!_

"Hey DJ. What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you. I thought you would come back here first so this was my best bet. Are you okay?" DJ asked with concern.

"Yea, I'm fine I was just about to go for a walk."

"Okay, I'll come with you. I could use some fresh air."

"Actually I really just want to be alone. I need to think."

"About what? What happened in there?" DJ asked.

"Nothing I just need some air that's all." Haley tried to reason.

"Come on Haley, I'm not stupid! I know something happened. You know you can tell me anything right?"

"Yes I know and if there was something I thought you should know I would tell you, but it's nothing."

"Okay I'll drop it, for now. But I just want you to know that you can tell me anything and I'll be here when you do want to talk. Whenever that is." DJ told here as he walked closer to pull her in to a long hug.

Haley hugged him back, willing the tears from falling. She hasn't cried since a year and a half ago and she's not going to start again now. She had to pull away because she knew if she stayed in his arms any longer she would completely breakdown, and she didn't want that to happen know. _I let go of this a long time ago. This doesn't change anything. _Haley reasoned with herself.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now." Haley said as she pulled apart.

"Okay can I at least walk you out because I'm going back to my room anyways." DJ tried to bargain.

"I'll give you one step better, I'll walk you all the way to Harris Hall." Haley said as she tried to hold in her laughter at his mock face of surprise.

"_ALL THE WAY TO THE GUY'S ROOMS? _To what did I do to deserve this?" DJ joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Cause you're my boyfriend and the sweetest guy…….and I'm an awesome girlfriend" Haley joked right back glad that he dropped the pending subject for now.

"That you are. All most as awesome as a boyfriend I am!" DJ kidded as leaned down to pull her into a kiss. Haley quickly replied as she deepened the kiss. Move her tongue across the bottom of his lip begging for entrance, which he quickly granted.

"Mmm" Haley moaned as she pulled away, needing air. "Okay I really do want to clear my head so lets go. I'll walk you to room."

"Okay, but we'll pick this up later!" He added with a smirk.

"What was all of that? Why did she lie to us?" Rachel asked Peyton after Haley left them standing there more confused then before.

"I have no clue. We're supposed to be best friends. We tell each other everything, at least we tell her everything!"

"Yea, have you ever noticed that whenever we bring up something remotely close to being about her life before she moved her she would _always_ change the subject!"

"Yea that's why I started calling her mystery girl. It was a joke at first because I thought she would eventually tell us something, but she never did."

"Well something bad must have happened if she doesn't want to tell us anything this badly." Rachel reasoned.

"Yea, but still I would like to think that she knows that she could come to us. Even if she didn't something bad. We would understand."

"I say we have a sleepover, in your room of course, tonight and try to get it out of her and if not we'll drop it." Rachel suggested.

"Okay do you want to get junk food and stuff?"

"Yea. OH! Maybe we should get some alcohol, get her drunk and then she'll just let it slip!?" Rachel joked.

"Rachel!" Peyton started to crack up laughing.

"What I was just kidding, a little bit" Rachel responded, as she too broke out in laughter, as the started to walk to Peyton's car.

AN: thanks for all those who've read and reviewed, I really appreciate it! The chapter title is from All Time Low. I don't own one tree hill just the idea for this story! Thanks again and review please


	4. Bottom Of A Bottle

CHAPTER FOUR:

CHAPTER FOUR: BOTTOM OF A BOTTLE

"Where is she?" Rachel asked after trying to call Haley for the last half hour. After she and Peyton went to get junk food for their little sleepover, they came back to Peyton and Haley's room and were now waiting for Haley to show up, since they couldn't reach her.

"I don't know. Well DJ isn't answering his phone either so maybe she's with him still."

"Yea, but she should be back soon. Since they are keeping up on room checking this year it would be hard for her to stay there without getting caught."

"Well she did learn from you so you never know." Peyton laughed.

"Haha, funny!"

"Well you know it's true, which makes it even funnier."

"Yea well you know what I think…" mid-sentence the door opened and in walked Haley.

"Finally!" Rachel and Peyton said at the exact same time.

"Finally what? What's going on." Haley asked.

"We decided we're going to have a girl's night!" Rachel exclaimed, jumping off the bed to pull Haley more into the room. "We have all the junk food in the world that three girls could eat. We got extra just cause you're here." She joked trying to get Haley to laugh. Thankfully it worked.

"Gee thanks!" Haley said trying to keep a straight face but making it about twenty seconds before cracking up laughing. "You guys know me so well." Right after she said that, and saw their faces quickly fade to frowns, she wanted hit herself. _God I'm so stupid._

"Okay how about we turn this suck-fest around!" Peyton said walking over to the cd player and putting on one of the mixes she made, turning the volume full-blast.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rachel yelled over the music. "Let's dance," she said and she grabbed both Peyton and Haley's hand.

They danced around the room for a few more songs before getting tired and in need of a food break.

"I'm starving!" Haley said as she grabbed a bag of Cheetos and tore it open.

"Me too!" Peyton walked over to where all the food was and saw the Cheetos in Haley's hand. "Hey! Don't eat all the cheetos," she yelled as she grabbed the bag out of Haley's hand and quickly ran over to her bed, flopping down.

"Hey!" Haley quickly responded by running and jumping on the bed, right on top of Peyton.

"Oww!" Peyton screeched.

"Well that's what you get for coming between me and my cheetos!" Haley laughed, grabbing the cheetos out of her hands.

Feeling left out, Rachel ran over to the bed and jumped on it, right on top of them.

"Geez" Both Peyton and Haley yelled out. "God do you weigh like a thousand pounds or what?" Peyton added causing all three to break out in laughter.

"Hey, that was uncalled for!"

"Yea? So was jumping on us! I'm going to wake up with bruises all over my body!"

"Oh don't be so dramatic! I barely jumped on you!"

"Yea she mostly landed on me!" Haley laughed.

After Haley dropped him of at Harris house, DJ decided to go to the soccer fields and play around for a while. After a while he walked back and went up to his room. He figured he would play some playstation. Opening the door he noticed Luke sitting there reading a book, of course.

"Hey Luke. I thought you guys were going to play some basketball?"

"Yea we did but we finished a little while ago. Skills had to go, but he wouldn't tell us why."

"Do you think it has anything to do with a certain blonde?" DJ joked referring to Bevin, a ditzy girl that seemed to take a liking to Skills. _What a weird pairing. _DJ thought._ But whatever makes him happy I guess._

"Yea, I wouldn't doubt it." Luke laughed. "So what was up with Haley?" He asked after he stopped laughing.

"I don't know she wouldn't tell me anything. She just said she didn't want to talk about it and that it's not a big deal. Which is such and obvious lie, but I can't force her to tell me. I don't _want _to force her to tell me; I want her to feel like she can tell me anything." DJ said with a frown forming on his face.

"Hey dude she'll come around. She just needs time to think; it seems like it was something big from her past and she wasn't expecting it to pop up again." Luke tried to convince his friend.

"Yea I guess, but if she doesn't feel like she can tell me about this, what else is she keeping from me?" DJ asked as flopped down onto his bed.

"Look she just needs time, so give it to her. She'll come around and tell you everything; she needs you right now, she just doesn't know how much right now."

"I know and I'm going to give her the time she needs, but I can't do this forever." DJ said sullenly.

"Hey I have an idea! Let's stop this suckfest and call up all the guys and go to Tric," Luke suggested talking about the local club, which of course they got in with there fake ID's.

"Sounds like a plan. I could really use something to boost up my mood."

"Okay I'll call the guys while you go shower, cause trust me you need it; you really stink!"

"Hey! I decided to go kick around for a while after talking with Haley, I needed to think"

"Okay whatever you say just go take a shower already." Luke laughed as he went to grab his phone to call the guys up.

"Okay I managed to also get some vodka." Rachel said as she held up a bottle.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Haley asked as she held out her cup, a quarter filled with Gatorade, as Rachel filled it up a little over half way.

"Peyton?" Rachel asked holding the bottle toward her.

"Sure why not?" she said as she also held out her cup, waiting for Rachel to fill it.

After Rachel filled her cup and made one for herself, they all sat on the floor and just started talking.

"So school's really going to be killer this year."

"I know. Can't wait!" Haley said sarcastically.

"Did you see the new chemistry teacher? He's short and wears a toupee!" Peyton said as they all sat there in a fit of giggles.

"Okay, so Rachel how many hookups this year, while you were in Mexico?" Peyton asked.

"Oh you know the average, about twenty."

"Wow only twenty? I think you're loosing your touch!" Haley joked.

"Well I was on vacation for a week less this time. So it was a little lower than normal." Rachel joked too, she didn't care that people saw her as a slut. In her mind she's just having fun and that's all she cared about.

"So what about you guys? How did your summer away from your boyfriends go?" Rachel asked since Peyton was in LA for a internship at some record company just for high school aged kids and DJ was away at some soccer camp for most of the summer.

"It sucked" They both said at the same time.

"Yea but it was a great experience working at the record company!" Peyton added.

"Yea and I got to hangout with the guys which was fun. Tree Hill is amazing in the summer." Haley said as she remembered her summer. She took Lucas up on his offer and stayed with him and his mother at there house in Tree Hill, since you couldn't stay at the school in the summer and her parents were always on business and they didn't get around to buying a house in Tree Hill yet.

"Yea it is. I wish I didn't have to go with my parents on their stupid vacations!" Rachel scowled.

"Next summer you should stay with me. My parents finally bought a house here!" Haley suggested.

"Yea that would be fun! I would get to stay and hangout with my two best friends the whole summer! Especially the summer before we go to college!" Rachel in a giddy voice clapping her hands together, like a little kid.

"Yea that would be really fun." Peyton said as she filled all their cups again.

"So Haley are you ever going to tell us about what happened in there?" Rachel asked.

"Wow great subject change!" Haley said her smile quickly turning to a frown.

"Well we are just so confused! I mean we have no clue what the hell that was!" Peyton added.

"Look all you need to know is that we went to school together in Chicago, we were friends, then I was moving, then something happened and we stopped being friends. That's it!" Haley said trying to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"Something happened like what?"

"Something that I got blamed for and wasn't my fault. That's it, that's all I'm saying because that's all you need to know. So when's the first basketball game?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"Okay I guess we'll take it, _for now_." Rachel said with a smirk on her face.

"Yea I guess." Peyton added, wondering why Rachel was giving up so easily.

"Um shouldn't you know when the first game starts? You are a cheerleader." Peyton asked Haley.

"Well so are you and you don't know either!" Haley laughed.

"Well I'm the captain and even I don't know!" Rachel said sending them all into laughter, their drinks already having a little effect on them.

"Okay I guess I'll ask Luke. I'll call him now." Peyton said as she grabbed her cell and scrolled through the contacts until she found Luke's name, and pressed send.

"_Hello_"

"Hey Luke I was just wondering if you knew when the first basketball game was?"

"_What? I can't hear you!"_

"Where are you? I can barely hear you over the music!"

"_We're at Tric. Want to come?"_

"I don't know let me ask." Peyton said as she held her hand over the mouth end. "Do you guys want to meet the guys up at Tric?" Peyton asked Rachel and Haley. The looked at each other and both shrugged.

"I guess, why not!" Rachel said.

"Okay" Peyton said as she pulled the phone to her ear again. "I guess we'll come. We'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"_Okay, see you soon!" Luke said before he hung up the phone._

"Who was that?" DJ asked as he came up to the table with a few beers.

"Oh, that was Peyton. The girls are gonna be come down."

"Oh okay. Good I can spend some time with Haley just having fun." DJ said as he took a sip of his beer after he passed one to all the guys.

"Yea I feel like I haven't hungout with Peyton in forever!"

"Dude you spent the whole day with her like two days ago!" Skills said laughing.

"Yea well it feels like forever!" Luke said as he joined and started laughing too.

"Oh look it's Bevin! Gotta go!" Skills said taking one last swig of his beer and leaving it at the table to go dance with Bevin.

"Looks like he and Bevin are really hitting it off!" Jake said as he came up to the table from talking to some girl he met in his Lit class.

"Where did you go?" Luke asked as Jake sat down at the table.

"I ran in to some girl I met one of my classes."

"Is she new?" DJ asked.

"No I don't think so. I just think she changed a lot over summer because nobody knew here but the teacher did, like she may have had her last year. So I don't know."

"Oh are you talking about Elizabeth Sparks?"

"Yea that's her! I've never seen her before this year."

"She was in my world history class last year. I don't think she ever talked!" Luke said as he picked up his bottle.

"Well she must have changed a lot over the summer! She hasn't shut up since I met her!" Jake laughed. "Not that I mind. She actually talks about interesting things, like books and music, instead of the latest fashion, like half the girls at our school do!"

"Yea she always seemed like a cool girl, just never got to her because she never talked."

"Yea she seems pretty cool so far. Actually I think I'll go ask her to dance." Jake said as he stood up and walked away.

Finally thirty minutes later Rachel, Peyton and Haley walked into Tric and went searching for the guys. Spotting them at a table in the corner they walked over to them.

"Hey guys" Rachel said first as they got to the table. Looking over she saw Skills talking with Bevin, who she knew from cheerleading, and Jake talking to some girl that looked familiar but couldn't really place her.

"Hi, I'm Rachel and they're Peyton and Haley." Rachel said to this girl and reached to extend her a hand.

"Hi I'm Liz." The girl said as she shook her hand and nodding to Peyton and Haley as they looked toward her and said hi.

"OH! We have gym with you right?" Rachel said finally remembering where she's seen her from.

"Yea I think so. Isn't Mr. Wheaten such a jerk!?"

"Yea! I can't believe he made us run two mile on the first day!" Rachel said as they started getting into conversation, while Jake smiled liking that this new girl fit in so well with his group of friends.

"Hey" Haley said as she walked up to DJ.

"Hey" He said as he pulled her down to give her a kiss. Soon she was sitting on his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck, while his hands were resting on her hips, holding her from falling.

"How was your walk?" DJ asked as they pulled away when air became an issue.

"Good. How was playing soccer? Did it clear your head." Haley said knowing that when he needed to think he always preferred to play soccer by himself, and after she dropped him off she walked around the school campus and saw him kicking around the ball on the field.

"How did you know?"

"I saw you, while I was trying to also clear my head."

"Well it helped. Did you clear your head too." DJ asked as he shifted so she was sitting in the booth right next to him.

"Yea I did" She said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

_Say say my playmate Won't you lay hands on me Mirror my malady Transfer my tragedy_

"Oh, I love this song….let's dance!" Haley said as she stood up and grabbed DJ's hands taking him with her.

_My mind has changed my body's frame but god I like it My heart's aflame my body's strained but god I like it._

After dancing for a while it started to get a little warm.

"I need a drink" She yelled over the music to DJ. "Want anything."

"No I'm good. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No it's okay. I'll meet you back at the table."

When she got to the bar she ordered a shot and a bottle of water. She quickly downed the shot and opened the bottle of water, taking a long drink.

"Ah, look who we have here. If it isn't Bitchy McBitcherson!" she heard someone say from the side of her. She turned over and say Brooke sitting on the stool. Out of all the places she could have gone Brooke had to come _here_. She ordered another shot, ignoring Brooke. Haley didn't care that she already had a little buzz from earlier, she downed the shot without a thought.

"Wow really kicking them back! Trying to hide your sorrows in alcohol? How original."

Haley ignored her, grabbed her water and turned to leave.

"Oh walk away! It's what you're known best for!"

"You know what, I've been trying to ignore you because I just have nothing to say to you. But if you would like I'm sure I can find something…and I assure you, you will not like what I come up with!" Haley yelled as she spun around facing Brooke.

"Really? Oh did I get under little miss Haley's skin?" Brooke said walking closer to Haley.

"What the hell do you want? It's like you're trying to pick a fight with me! Why don't we just ignore each other! It's what _you're _known best for!" Haley said mimicking Brooke's line from before.

"Well sorry that the site of you just repulses me!"

"Yea and what do you think I see when I look at you? That's right a total whore wrapped up nicely in a little Brooke package!" Haley screamed starting to attract attention.

"Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black!" Brooke yelled right back.

"Excuse me?! You did not just call me a slut!"

"I call them like I see them!"

"Yea well in that case when I look at you all I see is whore turned back stabbing bitch!" Haley yelled, not caring that the crowd around them was starting to grow.

Brooke stood there with anger in her normally friendly features. She picked up the glass she had order minutes earlier and in one quick motion threw all it's contents right in Haley's face. Haley just stood there shocked until she felt the water bottle in her hand, and in retaliation, held the bottle over Brooke's head and tipped it upside down, sending all of it pouring all over Brooke.

"What the hell?" Brooke said as she wiped the water from her face.

Haley started to turn to walk away when she felt a push from behind. When she turned around she just saw a smug smirk on Brooke's face. That was all she needed to walk right back up and push Brooke right back but with a harder force. Sending her stumbling back. _Guess I'm not the only one who's been drinking tonight._ Haley thought as she saw Brooke having trouble getting steady. With that Haley walked up to Brooke and right past here to go back to her friends. She felt a hard tug on her hair that had her stumbling backwards, like Brooke was doing moments before. She got her balance back and turned around and went up to Brooke and raised her hand and sent it flying across her face, catching Brooke off guard.

"You did not just SLAP me!" Brooke yelled while she brought a hand up to touch her already red cheek.

"I think I did!" Haley responded with a smirk. Just then Brooke clenched her fist and brought it up colliding with Haley's face.

Just then Peyton and Rachel ran up. They had heard the commotion of two girls fighting and wanted to check it out. They never thought it would be Haley and this mystery girl.

"What's going on here?" Peyton asked Haley as they got closer.

"I'll tell you what's going on here that bitch just punched Haley!" Rachel yelled getting closer to Brooke. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She asked coming really close to Brooke so they were face to face.

"I don't know who you think _you _are, but if you don't back up right now you are going to get a black eye just like your friend!" Brooke challenged Rachel.

"Oh really I don't think you would ev……….." Rachel was mid-sentence when a bouncer walked up to them.

"Okay, you four out! NOW!" He yelled pointing at Brooke, Rachel, Haley and Peyton.

When no one moved he stepped closer and grabbed each one of there arms, two in each hand. He took them outside and left them with some advice, "Settle what ever high school drama you have because life's to short to go around hating people." They just stood there looking at him like he was an idiot, what kind of advice was that? There was always going to be people that you hate and people that hate you, it's called life.

AN: the chapter is a song by Smile Empty Soul. And the song they dance to is Wolf Like Me by TV on the Radio. Please review because none of you that read it do and I really want some feedback (good or bad)! Plus if you leave reviews it gives me more opportunity to check out stories you have written, if you write them! Thanks I really appreciate you guys for reading it! I don't own anything but this story.


	5. AN SORRY

New Story Ideas:

Sorry this isn't a new chapter! But I'm thinking of starting a new story and I wanted some input before I actually started writing it! Obviously I love drama so this would be drama filled, but maybe with some humor thrown in, because I'm me and I can't_ not_ have humor! Lol so any feedback is welcomed. I want to hear what you think of this potential story! When some people leave some input on this I'll remove it and put up the fifth chapter of my story.

Haley and Nathan were all each other had. They grew up together; they were each others first everything: kiss, girlfriend/boyfriend, having sex, and most importantly love but when both their mothers, also best friends, died in a plane crash they are both left confused and scared. Nathan starts to pull away from everyone he cared about, including Haley. Haley was heartbroken when this happened and moved away to go live with her father. Now two years later, her senior year, Haley, when her father relocates, is forced to move back home. She is forced to face everything and everyone she left years ago, everything she was finally able to get over will be coming back sooner than she thought it ever would.


	6. We Are Broken

CHAPTER FIVE:

CHAPTER FIVE: WE ARE BROKEN

_Check yes Juliet are you with me rain is falling down on the sidewalk I won't go until you come outside check yes Juliet kill the limbo I'll keep tossing rocks at your window cause there's no turning back for us tonight_

Haley reached over to grab her phone off her nightstand.

"Hello"

"Hey baby! What happened to you last night?" DJ said on the other line.

"Yesterday?"

"Yea you just kind of disappeared from the club and I tried calling you but your phone was off. I was worried so I called Peyton and she said that you weren't feeling well so she took you home?"

"Oh yea. I was just feeling a little light headed" Haley said after catching on to Peyton's lie. _Remember to thank her, I didn't need another thing to worry DJ._

"Are you feeling better?" DJ asked his voice full of concern.

"Yea I'm okay." Haley said as she got up and started to get out some clothes to wear.

"Great so what are you doing today?"

"Nothing yet."

"Good so I was thinking going on a real date, like a dinner and a movie. We haven't just been on a fun date in a while."

"That sounds good. I'm just going to take a shower and then I'll meet you out front, say twenty minutes?" Haley answered liking the idea of a laid back day with DJ.

"Sounds good. See you soon, babe."

"Kay, love you" Haley said as she was starting to close her phone, right before the call ended she heard the faint sound of DJ saying "Love you too"

Grabbing her clothes she walked to her bathroom. On the way she noticed Peyton wasn't in her bed. _I wonder where she is? Peyton is never willingly up this early. I'll call her after I take my shower, if she's not back by then. _Haley thought as she closed the bathroom door and turned on the water.

"Okay so we need to find out what is going on with Haley! This time we're not going to take her lame ass excuses!" Peyton said as she plopped down on Rachel's bed, Rachel rolling over in the process and colliding right with Peyton.

"Oww!" They both yelled at the same time. "Geez warn a girl before who go jumping down on her bed!" Rachel said as she sat up rubbing her arm.

"Sorry, maybe you shouldn't have been stupid and rolled over when you knew I was lying here!" Peyton said as she stuck out her tongue.

"Yea, yea, so what's going on?"

"What's going on? Haley is what's going on!"

"Yea I really think we should sit her down and have a real talk. It's obvious something happened between her and that Brooke girl. She should tell us."

"Yea, you know what let's go get her and do it right now." Peyton suggested.

"Okay sounds good." Rachel got out of bed and walked to the door opening it, with Peyton following. When they got to Peyton and Haley's room Haley was just coming out of the bathroom.

"Oh hey guys what's up?" Haley asked as she saw them walk in. "I was just about to call you Peyton. Why are you up so early?"

"Look Haley we're just going to come right out and say it; you need to tell us what's going on with you." Rachel told her; she never was one for bluntness.

"Yea it's not good for you to hold these kinds of things in, it's obvious something serious happened between you and Brooke."

"Yea well sorry we're going to have to do this little ambush later; I have a date with DJ." Haley said angry that her friends keep pushing this when she told them she didn't want to talk about it. She grabbed her purse and walked for the door. Rachel quickly walked in front of the door stopping Haley.

_I am outside And I've been waiting for the sun With my wide eyes, I've seen worlds that don't belong My mouth is dry, with words I cannot verbalize Tell me why we live like this_

"Haley don't be mad. We are just trying to help. We don't understand why you can't tell us this. We're supposed to be best friends!"

"You are but I already told you I don't want to talk about it! Can't we just ignore it and her? Please"

"No we can't just ignore it! We already tried that and look what happened? Why can't you just tell us? It may be hard but we're your friends we'll understand!" Peyton pleaded.

"No I can't! God just drop it!" Haley screamed as she pushed Rachel aside and stormed out the room, slamming the door, leaving Rachel and Peyton there standing with, yet again, shock written all over their faces.

Brooke couldn't stay in her room knowing that her roommate was best friends with Haley, so she snuck over to the boys building. When she got to room 222 she knocked softly. When she didn't here any answer, she slowly opened the door and saw a body sleeping in the bed closest to the window and an empty bed. She walked over and slipped under the covers.

"Brooke what's wrong?"

"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you. Where's your roommate?" Brooke asked trying to start a conversation before he could ask why she's here.

"It's okay, I think he must have crashed in a friends room, he hasn't been home all night. But now if you don't mind me asking, why are you in my bed?" Nathan said with his classic smirk. But right then his smirk quickly turned into a frown when Brooke started crying. He pulled her into a hug and waited until her crying slowed.

_Keep me safe inside Your arms like towers tower over me Cause we are broken  
What must we do to restore our innocence And all the promise we adored?  
Give us life again, cause we just wanna be whole_

"What happened?" He asked with concern.

"Well guess who my roommate is best friends with? Yea that's right! Haley!"

"What why didn't you tell me sooner? This can't be easy for you. Have you seen her yet."

"Yea a few times, none ending well, especially the last time."

"Why what happened?"

"Well I ran into her at a club and we sort of started yelling at each other….and then yelling became physical." Brooke said timidly as she turned around.

"What? You got into a fight! Are you okay?" Nathan asked as he bolted into an upright position.

"Yea she will probably be hurting more than me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she only got a good slap in, while I kind of punched her."

"You punched Haley? Wow!" Nathan started to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing I was just wondering when this day was going to come! Nice work!" Nathan said while starting to laugh even harder just picturing Brooke punching Haley.

"Yea it did feel kind of good." Brooke said as she started to smile.

"So tell me all the details!" Nathan said glad that Brooke wasn't crying anymore; she didn't deserve to be crying over someone like Haley.

"Haley, what happened to you?" DJ asked as he reached up a hand to softly touch Haley's face, where a bruise was already formed. "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh yea I'm fine." Haley tried to dismiss this as a big deal.

"What _happened_?"

"I kind of got in a fight yesterday Tric." There was no point of lying, plus she was tired of lying to everyone.

"A FIGHT? Why? Was it with that girl, Rachel's roommate?"

"Yea" Haley said in a whisper.

"Okay so why did you get in a fight with her."

"I don't really want to talk about it." Haley said as she sat down on a bench in the front of the school, where they decided to meet.

"Haley you have a black eye and you won't tell me anything!"

"There's nothing to tell!"

"How about how you even know this girl!" DJ asked getting pissed off that she doesn't trust him enough to tell him _anything_.

"I went to school with her before I moved here. That's all I'm going to say." Haley said looking away; she didn't trust herself to look him in the eyes and not start crying.

"Fine, if that's how you want to be then that's fine!" He yelled, standing up and walking away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Haley yelled jumping up and running after him.

"If you don't want to tell me anything that's fine but I'm not going to sit here and pretend like everything is fine, when clearly it's not." DJ said not even turning around to look at her.

"Come on don't be like that." Haley pleaded tugging on his arm, forcing him to face her.

"Look you made you decision and now I made mine. If you change it and want to talk to me you know where to find me." He said as he pulled back his arm and turned around and walked away, but this time Haley didn't try to stop him, she just stood there as tears started to form in her eyes and quickly started to fall.

_Cause we are broken What must we do to restore our innocence And all the promise we adored? Give us life again, cause we just wanna be whole._

AN: Please review! Thanks! The chapter is a song by Paramore and the song at the beginning is "Check Yes Juliet" by We the Kings. I realized that Nathan wasn't really in the other chapters. My bad! Lol okay so I started my other story and I think I might post it sometime this week…maybe. We'll see. please review again. OH and it's not going to brathan…sorry if it seemed like it was.


	7. Last Second Confessions

CHAPTER SIX:

CHAPTER SIX: LAST SECOND CONFESSIONS

After leaving Haley just standing there, DJ walked back to his room, wanting to just be alone. He couldn't believe Haley still wouldn't tell him anything, especially after getting into a fight. _Whatever, if she doesn't want to talk to be about it then she can find a new boyfriend. I don't have to put up with this, I gave her so many chances to open up and she shot them all down._ DJ's thoughts were running a hundred miles per hour as he walked to his room and opened the door. When he walked in he noticed his roommate was lying on his bed, but he wasn't alone. As they heard the door shut two heads turned and looked at DJ.

"Hey DJ"

"Hey Nathan. Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. I can go if you want?" DJ offered but really he was hoping he would say no, he just wanted to get some sleep.

"No it's okay. You weren't interrupting anything. This is my best friend, Brooke. Brooke, this is my roommate DJ."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Brooke reached out a hand for him to shake.

"Hey. What's up?" DJ asked as he grasped her hand.

"Nothing, roommate problems, so I had to settle for this loser over here" Brooke said trying to hide her laughter.

"Hey! I'm great company! But if you want you can leave!? I know you just want to go chit chat with your roommate!" Nathan kidded.

"Chit chat?" Brooke asked not even trying to hide her laughter. "What guy says chit chat?" Brooke slowed her laughing, trying to catch her breath.

"What? I hear people say that all the time!"

"Yea and do these people pee standing up or sitting down?"

"Whatever." Nathan conceded after thinking about it for a while. DJ was just sitting on his bed laughing.

"Have you guys been friends long?" DJ asked jokingly.

"All our lives!" Brooke said with a smile.

"I couldn't tell!" DJ said in a fun, sarcastic tone.

"So DJ I thought you had a date with your girlfriend tonight?" Nathan asked remembering him saying something about it earlier. DJ and Nathan were actually getting along really well, neither knowing what connected them together more than just being roommates.

A frown quickly formed on his face, taking the spot of his bright smile moments earlier. "Yea it didn't really turn out as I planned"

"What happened?" Brooke asked when Nathan hit her in the shoulder, giving her a pointed look. "I mean if you don't mind me asking."

"Yea Brooke has never really understood personal space." Nathan laughed.

"No it's okay." DJ, for some reason, felt really comfortable around his roommate already.

"She just has been going through some stuff lately and she refuses to talk to me about anything. I've given her so many opportunities and she just shoots them down automatically."

"That sucks man."

"Yea, sorry."

"Yea me too." DJ said with a small, sad smile.

After standing there for a while, it started to rain and Haley was getting soaked. She decided to go back to her room. She just wanted to crawl up in a ball with her blanket and sleep away the pain. When she got back to her room she tried to dry the tears that had fallen before opening the door. She walked in and found Peyton lying on her bed drawing.

She walked over to the bed as Peyton looked up and noticed Haley's eyes were all red and puffy. Forgetting about their fight earlier Peyton instantly pulled Haley into a hug. All she knew was that her best friend needed her.

Haley couldn't take it, she broke down sobbing. She grabbed onto Peyton like she was afraid she was going to push her away. They sat on the bed and Haley just cried, her head on Peyton's shoulder, as Peyton just ran a hand up and down her back, telling her it was going to be okay. After a while Haley's crying stopped.

"Haley, sweetheart, what happened? Can you please tell me?" Peyton asked hoping she wouldn't just shut her out again.

"I think DJ and I broke up." Haley said quickly, like if she never said it then it never happened.

"What happened? Why would you think that?"

"It's all my fault! I screwed up everything, just because I'm scared."

"What do you mean you screwed up everything? Scared of what?"

"I shut him out. He wanted to know about what happened, just like you guys did, and I wouldn't tell him. He's given me so many opportunities and I knew that after a while he wouldn't be able to handle me shutting him down."

"Haley can I ask you a question?"

"Sure"

"If you knew that he would walk away at some point why didn't you just tell him what happened?"

"Because I'm scared"

"Scared of what?"

"That he won't see me the same after I tell him." Haley said looking away.

"Why would that happen?" Peyton asked confused.

"Because I wasn't…well I've done some stuff that I'm not proud of."

"Oh….is this the reason behind your problems with Brooke?"" Peyton hesitantly asked after a moment of silence fell upon them.

"Yea, so many things happened, some I did do and some I really didn't, and it was just easier to leave it all behind. I found out I was moving after all this happened and at first I tried to talk to Brooke, to get her to realize the truth, but it rendered pointless, so I gave up. I never thought I would see her again." Haley admitted.

"Wow I guess that didn't turn out as you planned!" Peyton joked but Haley didn't laugh. "Sorry, not funny"

"Look you seem like you regret what happened with you and Brooke, but you can't change what happened. You can try to get passed it, but if you can't I know a relationship with a certain someone that you will regret losing, and there is still time to fix this one." Peyton said as a little smile formed on the corners of her lips.

"I don't know."

"Come on, Haley. I know you're scared but if you tell DJ why you were so hesitant to tell him anything he will understand. You should have a little more faith in him; he loves you."

"I know he does and I love him too. It's just that I'm scared to loose him if I tell him about my past."

"Honey I hate to say it but you'll loose him if you don't."

"Yeah I know. I guess I just have to go tell him and hope for the best." Haley said while getting up to go the boy's building.

"That's my girl!" Peyton stood up and walked to Haley and pulled her into a hug. "And, Haley, if he doesn't understand then Rachel and I will be here for you, okay?" Peyton told her as she pulled away.

"Thanks Peyt…for everything." Haley opened the door and walked out, hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake.

When she got to the guys building, she snuck in and ran up the stare case. She's been standing in front of his door, pacing back and forth, trying to figure out exactly what she was going to say. _Screw it, I'll just wing it. _Haley slowly opened the door, she never knocked.

When she entered the room she saw two people huddled together under a blanket on the bed of DJ's roommate. Her eyes quickly glided over to DJ's bed and he was sitting there looking at her intently. She slowly, hesitantly, walked over to his bed and sat down next to him. She was playing with the ring on her pinky finger, twirling and twirling it around, trying to find the courage to speak up. When she finally looked up, she saw him staring at her with his golden brown eyes.

"Hi" Haley croaked out after what seemed like hours.

"Hi"

"Look can I talk to you, _alone_." Haley eyed the other bed, not wanting to disturb his roommate with what would probably become a heated argument.

"No, if you want to talk to me talk to me."

"DJ please! Let's just go for a walk, this isn't easy for me" Haley pleaded.

"Well do you think this is easy for me, Haley?" DJ asked in a louder tone which made Haley flinch a little.

At the sound of Haley's name, two heads flew up from under the covers. Nathan and Brooke looked over at Haley sitting on the opposite bed, next to DJ.

"Haley?" Nathan asked shocked. "You're girlfriend is Haley?"

"No freaking way!" Brooke laughed bitterly.

"Yea, this is Haley James. Do you guys know each other?" DJ asked utterly confused.

Haley just sat there; she couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. One look into those smoldering blue eyes and her breathe was taken away, still after all this time. DJ looked over to Haley and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Haley? Haley?" DJ asked but when getting no response, he nudged her and said her name more forcefully. "HALEY!"

"Uhh? What?" Haley broke the staring she was unknowingly doing toward Nathan.

"How do you know Nathan and Brooke?"

"Umm" Haley couldn't think of a quick enough response before Brooke spoke up.

"Oh she's an old friend. Well I wouldn't quite use the word friend, more like backstabbing bitch!" Brooke stood up from the bed and walked towards the door, but when she passed DJ she leaned down and whispered in his ear, loud enough for Haley to hear. "Have fun with this one, but you will regret it one day." And with that Brooke opened the door with a smirk on her face. She turned her head back to look at Nathan just sitting there.

"Are you coming, _Natey_." Brooke asked, using Haley's old nickname for him to get her pissed off even more. Nathan looked up at Haley to see her clenching her teeth, which he knew meant she was about to snap. He could still read her like an open book, even if he didn't want to.

"Yea let's go." Nathan got up to leave and right before he out the door completely he gave another glance back at Haley, his eyes seemed so cold and filled with anger and hatred, which didn't go unnoticed by DJ.

"Okay what the hell was that?" DJ was so confused he didn't even know where to start asking questions.

"How do you know Brooke and Nathan?"

"This is want I wanted to come talk to you about. There is a part of my past that I kept hidden from you. I thought about what you said earlier and I don't think I can loose you and, even though I still might after what I tell you, I at least had to fight for you, for our relationship."

"Okay, I'm listening"

"I think you may want to sit down. It's going to be a while."

Doing what he was told he took a seat at the table in the middle of his room.

"Okay it all started about three years ago, freshman year"

AN: okay so I really don't like how this chapter turned out, at all. But next chapter is going to be three years back, going through the life of Haley, Brooke and Nathan in Chicago, up until she moved to Tree Hill. Do you guys like the sound of a chapter like that, going back three years for the whole chapter? Please let me know! Reviews are appreciated.

PS) sorry it's taking a long time to get to what happened with Baley and Naley. And the chapter title is a song by Ten Falls Forth.


	8. Animal I've Become

Chapter Seven:

Chapter Seven: ANIMAL I'VE BECOME

AN: sorry it took me so long to update, but I made this chapter extra long! so this is back three years freshman year. And yes I realize you can't drive when you're a freshman but I didn't even think about that until _after_ I wrote this whole thing so I wasn't going to rewrite it. Lol so let's just pretend you can drive when you're a freshman thanks to those who read and reviewed. Please review they make me happy!

_FRESHMAN YEAR:_

Haley looked down at the little plastic stick in her hand, waiting. Waiting for the most live changing news in her life. She can't stand it; she throws the stick across the room. It seemed like it was taking hours instead of minutes. After a few calming breaths, a few minutes later, she walked across the bathroom and picks it up, hesitantly glancing at the results. _Positive. _

Haley looked at the little two lines representing it was positive. She checked the instructions over and over, but it was clear that two lines meant she was pregnant. _No! This isn't happening! It can't happen. It just can't._ Haley slid down the wall she didn't know she was leaning on for support. She hit the floor and just started sobbing.

She didn't know what Nathan would say. God, Nathan. He would freak out. _But I have to tell him, now!_ Haley came to the conclusion that she would need him for this, she would need help in the decision of what to do, she just needed to tell him.

Haley stood up slowly and looked in the mirror. She looked like crap. She ran the cool water and when she ran her hands under it, it was ice cold. She cupped her hands together and let it pool in her hands. She splashed the water on her face, making her more alert. She grabbed a towel and dried her face. With one final look in the mirror she turned and walked out to her bedroom. She grabbed her keys, but put them back down. She didn't trust herself driving; she decided she would walk instead. Plus it gave her more time to think of what she would say. She found a hoodie and threw it on. She walked down the sidewalk, taking the long way to her destination. When she finally stopped in front of a big house, she just stood there for a few minutes before finally walking up the walkway and up the stairs. With her hands shaking she rang the doorbell and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, the door finally opened.

When Nathan opened the door and saw the look on Haley's face he instantly knew that something was wrong.

"Haley? Are you okay?" Nathan asked with a worried expression.

"No." Haley told him the truth. There would be no point in lying.

"What happened?"

"Can I maybe come in?" Haley asked.

"Oh, sure." Nathan hadn't realized they were still standing on the front porch. He held the door open and let her enter first.

He walked into his living room and sat down on the couch, with Haley following.

"Are your parents home?" Haley asked quietly.

"No, they went out of town remember?"

"Oh, yea. I forgot."

"Haley, babe, what's wrong?" Nathan asked as he placed his hand softly on her cheek.

"I need to tell you something." Haley said, not meeting his eyes.

Nathan put her face in both his hands and gently pulled her to look at him. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I know. It's just that this is really hard to say."

_When I was young I knew everything  
And she a punk who rarely ever took advice  
Now I'm guilt stricken,  
Sobbing with my head on the floor  
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice no_

"It's okay I'm here for you." Nathan told her sincerely.

"I'm pregnant" Haley blurted out. _It was now or never_. Haley thought.

Nathan instantly dropped his hands from her face. "WHAT? Did you just say pregnant?" Nathan asked completely shocked.

"Yea." Haley finally looked up at Nathan, but for once she couldn't read the expression on his face or in his eyes.

After a few minutes of silence Haley couldn't stand it anymore. "Nathan say something."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Anything."

"Fine I'll say something. You completely ruined my life! How could you let this happen?!" Nathan screamed while standing up and walking towards the door.

"WHAT?" Haley screamed back. "This is not only my fault! You were there too!"

Nathan ignored her and continued to walk to the door.

"Where are you going? We need to talk about this." Haley stood up to follow him.

"It's not my problem. I don't want anything to do with this."

_I can't be held responsible  
Cause she was touching her face  
I won't be held responsible  
She fell in love in the first place _

"It's not your problem?" Haley repeated. "Like hell it isn't your problem!"

"It's not. Leave, I don't want anything to do with this. I can't deal with this right now. I have my basketball career to think about." Nathan told her, his face completely void of any emotion.

"You're just going to leave me when I need you most?" Haley said incredulously.

"I guess."

"So all the 'I'll always be there for you, I love you's' were a bunch of lies? When I need your support more than I will ever or have ever needed it you just bail; when the situation gets tougher or interrupts your precious future, you can't deal with it anymore?" The tears that built up over the course of their conversation finally over spilled uncontrollably.

"What about my future Nathan? Did you even think about that? There's more to life than basketball. Think about what it would be like for this child to grow up without a father?"

"No and I'm not going to. Now leave." Nathan said as he opened the door for her.

"No. We need to talk about this. This is not only my fault." Haley told him forcefully.

"Fine." Nathan walked through the doorway and onto the porch and slammed the door so hard that the pictures on the wall started to shake.

Haley stood there for a second before she fell on the floor, sobbing, once again. After what seemed like hours, the tears started to slow. She managed to stand up and walked out the door. The instant the cool night air hit her face she wished she decided to drive. She made her way home, up the stairs and flopped down on her bed. She curled into a ball and the tears started to fall, again. She pulled the covers over her and squeezed Mr. Waffles tight to her body.

_For the life of me I cannot remember  
What made us think that we were wise and  
We'd never compromise  
For the life of me I cannot believe  
We'd ever die for these sins  
We were merely freshmen_

Nathan walked around town, not knowing what to do. He couldn't believe in the course of ten minutes his life completely crumbled. He was just walking around not realizing where he was going. He ended up at the rivercourt. He looked around and suddenly all these memories came flooding back. His first time shooting a basketball was here, the first time he met Lucas was here, the first time he kissed Haley was here. _Haley._ Suddenly all he could see was the broken look on her face. He couldn't believe he said those things to her; he didn't mean any of them. He was just scared. The memory of the first time he told her he loved her, on the picnic table, looking at the river came rushing through him. It sent a sudden wave of realization over him as he took of running. He was positive Haley wouldn't be at his house anymore, but he went there anyways to get something. It seemed like he couldn't move fast enough. He had to get to her before it was too late. He came to her house, and knowing it was unlocked and her parents weren't home, he barged right on in.

"Haley? Haley!" Nathan yelled as he ran through the house. When he was sure she wasn't on the first floor, he started up the stairs. He went to her room and opened the door.

"Haley?" He asked as he poked his head through the door. But he realized she wasn't in there. He went further in though. _Maybe she's in the bathroom. _He looked over and realized the door was open and the lights were off. She wasn't in there. He was about to turn around and search the rest of the house when his eyes caught something on the bed. He went over and picked it up; his name was written on the front. He unfolded it and started to read.

_Nathan I'm sorry you reacted this way, but I'm leaving so you won't have to worry anymore. Your basketball career is still in your future. Don't try to find me, please. I don't think I can handle anymore hurt from you. I don't know what I'm going to do about the baby but you don't have to worry anyways. I will always love you. Haley._

Nathan slowly fell so he was sitting on the bed. _I'm too late. I can't believe this. I can't believe she just left. _He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little box. He opened it and in it, sitting, was a golden ring with one big diamond surrounded by a bunch of little diamonds. It was an engagement ring his mother gave him over the summer. He was just starting to get closer with his mother again and she gave him this family heirloom and told him she wanted him to give this to the love of his life and that maybe it will bring more happiness than it had brought her and Dan. He just laughed when she gave it to him, telling her she was crazy. He wouldn't need it for _years_. He never thought that he would need to use it so soon, or even want to use it so soon.

_For the life of me I cannot remember  
What made us think that we were wise and  
We'd never compromise  
For the life of me I cannot believe  
We'd ever die for these sins  
We were merely freshmen_

Tears started forming in Nathan's eyes. He couldn't help it. He couldn't stop thinking of what he had done. How he ruined the only good thing in his life.

After Haley stopped crying, she stood up and started getting some clothes together. She decided that she was better off with Nathan. That was the moment she decided she would do anything in her power from getting hurt again. She made a phone call, packed a minimal amount of clothes in a bag and wrote a note. She left it on the bed, not even knowing if Nathan would ever get it, or if he would even care that she was gone. _No, I'm not going to think about what him and what he cares about. I will never let myself be hurt by him again._

She threw her bags in the backseat of her white Lexus, a little gift from daddy/mommy dearest for never being there. She took off towards Brooke's house. She couldn't just leave her without saying _anything._ She pulled up into her driveway and walked up the porch and let herself in with the key Brooke had given her.

"Brooke?" Haley's voice echoed as she entered the house.

"Up here!" Haley could hear faintly coming from upstairs. She walked up the winding staircase until she got to the top and walked all the way down the hall to Brooke's room.

She pushed open the door lightly and poked her head through.

"Hey." Brooke said as she stopped what she was doing and walked over to Haley. Then was when she said Haley's red, scared, heartbroken eyes. "Oh, sweetie, what happened to you?" Brooke pulled Haley into a hug instantly.

"Um. It's a long story." Haley told her as she pulled away. Tears already started to form in her eyes.

"I've got all day." Brooke pulled Haley over to the bed to sit down. "Tell me everything."

Haley sat down and looked into her best friends eyes. She couldn't just leave without telling her everything. They were always there for each other. Haley proceeded to tell her everything. When she was finished a whole new batch of tears were falling from her chocolate brown eyes. Brooke pulled her into a tight hug and ran a soothing hand up and down her back.

"Shh. It's going to be okay. Everything will be okay. I'm here for you." Brooke told her soothingly. "We'll figure everything out."

"Actually, I already did." Haley told her between her sniffles of trying to stop crying. "I'm leaving. Tonight."

"What?" Brooke asked confused. "Where are you going?"

"I don't want to tell you. Sorry, I just don't want you to have to put up with Nathan trying to get it out of you if he knew that you knew where I went." Haley told her when she saw the disappointment fill Brooke's eyes.

"It's okay. I swear I won't tell him." Brooke tried to convince her.

"No, it's just better this way."

"We'll at least tell me what you're going to do." Brooke conceded.

"I'm going to keep it." Haley told her. She knew Brooke wouldn't have approved of her having an abortion. Brooke's mother almost had one and she reminds Brooke of that every time she sees her, which thank god is rarely ever.

"Good. Look call me if you need anything. And I mean _anything._ I'm just one phone call away. Just remember that." Brooke told her as she pulled her into one last hug. "I love you tutor girl." Brooke told her as tears filled her eyes.

"I love you too, tigger." Haley held on tight for a moment longer before quickly standing up and running out of the room, down to her car. It was too hard to stay there any longer.

She pulled out of the drive way and started driving out of town. She picked up her phone, scrolled through the contacts, and pressed send.

"Hello"

"Hey, Tay. It's me. I'm leaving now, so I should be there in a few hours." Haley told her sister on the other line.

"Are you doing okay?" Taylor asked full of worry. She was so scared when her sister called her, crying, and asked to come stay with her for a while.

"Yea I'm doing okay. It's just hard you know."

"Yea. Okay lil sis, I'll see you in a little while. Love you."

"Love you too." Haley closed the phone shut.

After hours of driving Haley finally made it to Taylor's off-campus apartment. She has been going to U of I for the last two years and decided she wanted to live off-campus this year. She was tired of the dorm scene. Haley hit the buzzer of Taylor's number. She heard a buzzing sound and the door unlocked. She walked up the three flights of stairs to get to the third floor and walked down the hall until she saw 3B on the door. She knocked a couple of times before she heard her sister yell to come in. She walked through the door and instantly smelled food. She ran to the kitchen, Taylor never was much of a cook; she always burnt something. But when she got to the kitchen Taylor was setting the table for two and the food sitting there actually looked edible.

"Tay since when did you learn to cook?" Haley asked as she walked in further and inspected the food sitting on the table.

"Since I didn't have a maid to cook me anything anymore." Taylor laughed.

"Makes sense." Haley walked over to Taylor and gave her a big hug. "I've missed you Tay. Thanks for helping me."

"No problem. I'm always here when you need me, you know that." Taylor hugged her sister back for a long time. She hasn't seen her in forever.

"Thanks."

"Okay. Are you hungry?" Taylor asked as they pulled away.

Haley was about to answer when her stomach let out a loud groan.

"That's what I thought." Taylor laughed. Haley joining too. It felt good to laugh with all the crap that's happened.

After they ate, Haley took a long, hot shower while Taylor put the dishes in the dish washer. About an hour later Haley came out dressed in her comfiest pj's and walked over and sank into the couch next to Taylor. Taylor picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

"Okay let's talk about what you're going to do." Taylor said as she turned to face Haley.

"I don't think I will be able to do this by myself." Haley said right away.

"Are you sure? Plus you wouldn't be by yourself; I will be there to help you." Taylor told her.

"I don't want to impose on you like that. You're in college, you're supposed to be out partying not taking care of your little sister and her baby." Haley told her.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about you and what this situation would do to you." Taylor always worried about her more than herself. She would do anything for her.

"Taylor this is what's best for me. I'm not ready for this."

"Did you really think about this?"

"Yes. I've been thinking about it all day. This is what I need to do. I'm settled on it. I'm not going to change my mind."

"Well okay, if you are sure this is what you really want we'll make an appointment tomorrow." Taylor scooted over on the couch and Haley rested her head against her shoulder.

"I'm sure about this." Haley told her.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Taylor spoke up. "I think you should get some sleep. You're going to have a big day tomorrow."

"Okay, you're right." Haley said as she started to get up.

"You can sleep in my bed. I might come in their in a little bit, I have a few things to take care of." Taylor told her.

"Okay. Goodnight Tay." Haley leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you again for all of this."

"Like I said you're my little sister, I'll do anything for you."

After a while Taylor was done making the appointment and she was pacing around the living room for about a half hour. She was so scared for her sister. She stopped pacing when she thought she heard something come from the bedroom. She walked down the hall and when she got closer she realized that the sound was from Haley crying. She walked to the room and quietly opened the door. She looked at the bed and saw her sister curled up in a ball clutching her knees. She walked over to her broken sister and climbed on the bed next to her. She wrapped her arm around Haley and she instantly relaxed her tight clutch. She turned over and just sobbed into the crook of Taylor's neck. Taylor just sat there rubbing her back, telling her everything was going to be okay. And it would be because she would help her sister through this no matter what she has to do. She couldn't stand seeing her sister in pain like this; it killed her.

_2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake  
Can you help me unravel my latest mistake  
I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season.  
Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes  
Like they have any right at all to criticize  
Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason._

Taylor and Haley walked into the doctor's office at about six that morning. Taylor told Haley to sit down while she went to sign her in. The secretary at the desk told her it would be about a half an hour. Taylor filled out the papers she had to and went to sit down next to Haley.

"It's going to be a while." Taylor told her when she got to the row of chairs Haley was sitting in.

Haley nodded as she looked around at all the people there. They all seemed to be staring at her, giving her these judging looks. Taylor saw what she was looking at and quickly gave dirty looks to all the people staring at them, and they quickly looked away.

"Just forget about them, Hales." Taylor tried to soothe her sister. "This place is only for abortions which means they are all here for the very same reason."

_Cause you can't jump the track  
We're like cars on a cable and life's like an hourglass glued to the table,  
No one can find the rewind button girl  
So just cradle your head in your hands.  
And breathe, just breathe, whoa breathe just breathe._

Taylor looked over at her sister and she looked like she was about to pass out.

"Come on Hales. It's going to be all right. I'll be by your side the whole time."

Haley looked over at her sister and the look in her eyes seemed to calm her somewhat. "Thanks, because I'm going to really need you."

"Well you are going to have me there, even if you didn't want me to be." Taylor gave her a small smile.

Haley looked up at her and for the first time it what felt like an eternity a smile broke across her face.

"Haley James." A nurse holding a clip board called out. "Your next."

Haley and Taylor stood up and followed the nurse. The nurse turned around and noticed Taylor.

"Miss, you are going to have to wait here." She told Taylor.

Haley's eyes went wide, "No. No. I need her!"

Taylor turned to the nurse. "Look lady I know you are just doing your job but I am not leaving my sister by herself. I'm coming with her or else we're leaving and we'll find another place that would allow me to be there,"

"Let me go talk to the doctor." She walked off and entered a room. She came back a minute later.

"Okay. Due to Miss James' age the doctor is allowing you to be there." The nurse told a very relieved Haley and a very thankful Taylor.

"Thank you very much." They said at the same time.

"You're welcome. Follow me." The nurse led them into a room with and awaiting doctor.

"Hello I'm Doctor Harrison." The doctor greeted them. "Haley please have a seat on the table and Taylor you can sit in that chair next to her if you would like."

After they sat down the doctor started talking again. "Do you know anything about the procedure you will be going through?" When Haley shook her head no she went through the process. "Okay, according to our test you are about six weeks pregnant. This is the good time for a certain abortion. It's called a D&C abortion. We will dilate your cervix and then I will use a curette to scrap the uterine lining. We can provide a mild anesthesia, which I highly suggest, would you like it?"

Haley nodded yes and the doctor continued. "Okay the procedure itself takes about fifteen to twenty minutes. Do you have any questions?" Haley shook her head no. "Okay then let's get started. Please change into this robe." The doctor handed her a robe and left the room.

Haley changed quickly and the doctor came back shortly. She made Haley lie down on the table and put her feet in stirrups. Haley looked over to Taylor, who was know standing next to her. She grabbed Taylor's hand and squeezed it tight. The doctor then administered the anesthesia and it quickly took effect. Mrs. Harrison then began the procedure.

After the procedure was done, and Haley was awake, she was allowed to go home, about an hour later. The doctor told her she needed to come in for a follow up in about a week.

"You will also feel cramping, or bleeding, and I am giving you antibiotics just to make sure you don't get an infection. For the pain just take ibuprofen. Do you have any questions?"

"No. Thank you doctor Harrison." Haley said as she slowly stood up, with Taylor's help.

The doctor nodded. "Take care of yourself. I'll see you in a week." She said as she opened the door for them.

Taylor drove them home and helped Haley up to the apartment. Taylor made Haley go lie down. She needed her rest.

About two months later Haley was doing better. She was starting to get over the depression she had fallen into. She decided to stay with Taylor, indefinitely, so she transferred to a near by high school. She was just starting to make some friends too. Haley not her normal self though. She never did her homework, her grades were terrible, she came home drunk a few times. Taylor didn't know what to do anymore. She tried talking to her but she could never get through. Fed up, Taylor finally decided it was best if Haley moved back to Tree Hill. Haley didn't even seem to put up a fight. She just shrugged and went to pack her bags. She left that night just brushing past Taylor when she went for a hug.

"See ya." She said as she walked out the door. She got into her Lexus and drove back to a town she knew so well; a town that harbored so many horrible feelings.

When she went to school that Monday after she got back, everybody was shocked to see her, Brooke the most. She has been gone for two months, and now all of a sudden, without a word, she was back? Brooke was pissed to say the least, but she was also excited to see her best friend.

Brooke walked up to her in the quad, before school started, when Haley got out of her car and started walking toward the school.

"Haley?" Brooke squealed as she ran up and hugged her. When she felt no response from Haley she pulled away.

"Hey." Was all Haley said and she moved around Brooke and started to walk away.

Brooke stood there stunned for a second before running after her. "HEY? That's all you can say after two months of not returning _one _of my phone calls?" Brooke screamed.

"I guess." Haley said as she pushed through the school doors.

"You guess? I was worried sick about you and now you come back without a warning and are a completely different person. What happened to you Haley." Just then Brooke realized how skinny Haley was. She did the math in her head; she should be showing by now. Brooke's eyes went wide in shock. "You didn't!?" She said in a cold tone.

Haley stopped dead in her tracks. She knew exactly what Brooke meant. She turned around and faced her. "That's none of your business." Haley turned around and walked away.

It went on this way for the next few months of school. Haley and Brooke either avoiding each other or having huge fights in the middle of school, on the phone, when they ran into each other places, basically anywhere. Haley started hanging out with a more wild crowd. The kind of people that partied every night and didn't care about anything or anyone. Sure Brooke partied, she was still queen of the school, but she knew her limits.

As for Nathan and Haley, well that was even worse. They never spoke, not once. Nathan tried to talk to her the day she came back but she didn't even throw one glance his way.

In the summer it got worst. Haley's partying got even more extreme, if that was possible. When there sophomore year started Haley and Brooke's relationship was not existent, fighting or not. Haley only slide by freshman year with straight C's because she was smart and basically aced all tests and quizzes. And she started off her sophomore year the same exact way. She never did homework, she talked back to the teachers. The only reason she wasn't kicked out was because her dad was rich.

The final night that broke the straw for her father was the last day in first semester. After taking her finals, Haley and her friends went to a party that was being held by the cheerleaders/basketball players, to crash it. Since she was drinking before when she got there she was already pretty wasted, but she drank even more. When Brooke saw her she immediately tried to get her to leave.

"Haley, what the hell are you doing here! Leave right now!" Brooke screamed grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to the door.

"Get your hands off me! I'm not going anywhere." Haley downed the last of her drink and grabbed another one from a random person as Brooke continued to pull her.

"No. This is my party and you need to leave now!" Brooke yelled.

"Yea what are you going to do? Cheer me to leave?" Haley laughed.

"Well I know some things that I know you don't want other people to know." Brooke tried to blackmail her into leaving.

"Oh. Well if you want to play that way." A drunk Haley said, her words starting to slow together. "I'm sure Luke would enjoy my little secret about you."

"You wouldn't!" Brooke said.

"Oh I would. You know what I think I just might." Haley said just as Luke came up to them.

"What secret?" Luke asked looking at Brooke.

"Nothing. She's drunk; she doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Oh, you really don't know then. I guess Brooke never took my advice and told you." Haley said as she finished yet another drink. "Well you might want to sit for this."

"Haley don't." Brooke pleaded.

"Well one time freshman year, Brooke had a little slip." Haley started.

"Please Haley. Please don't" Brooke said as tears started to form in her eyes.

"You see…she..kind…of…slept with someone else." Haley finished, her words slurred together, but you could still understand what she was saying.

Lucas eyes went wide and he stared at Brooke, his eyes filled with pain. "Brooke? Is this true?"

Brooke could never seem to lie directly to Luke. "Yes." She answered as tears started to spill over.

"I'm done." Luke said as walked away.

Brooke looked at Haley. "How could you?!" She wanted to say so much more, reveal Haley's secret and hurt her just as much, but she knew she couldn't especially because she would also be hurting Nathan. She turned and ran after Lucas but it was too late. He couldn't even look at her.

"I never want to see you again." Luke said as he left the house.

"Well my work her is done." Haley said proudly as she walked towards the front door her friends right behind her. That night when Haley got home her father was waiting for her. She say her bags packed by the front door.

"What's going on?" Haley tried to say but you couldn't really understand her. Her words were all slurring together.

"I talked to Taylor. I know everything and I know how you have been lately. Your grades are horrible, you have a bunch of detentions, and you come home drunk all the time. You need a change. We are sending you to a boarding school in North Carolina."

Those were the last words her father spoke to her, the last words she heard in Chicago. Those were the words that finally woke her up and made her realize what a mess she made of things.

AN: sorry I took so long to update this story. I didn't exactly know where I wanted to take this but I guess it turned out okay. So PLEASE review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! Because I'm not so sure about it. Too drama filled?? Please tell me your thoughts. Thanks for reading oh yea and the first song is "The Freshman" by The Verve Pipe and the second song is "Breathe (2AM)" by Anna Nalick.


	9. Moment Of Truth

CHAPTER EIGHT:

AN: I'm SO sorry it took forever to update, but better late then never right?? lol well I hope you like this chapter and leave me some love, I greatly appreciate it. ) enjoy

CHAPTER EIGHT: MOMENT OF TRUTH

"And so then I came here. All I knew was that I didn't want to be the person I was before. I knew I had to change, so that's exactly what I did." Haley had just finished telling DJ everything. She didn't want to look up into his eyes. She didn't want to see the expression that she knew would be written all over his face.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Haley looked up to find DJ just sitting there, staring at the ground. He looked over at her and his eyes pierced through hers.

"Please say something." Haley begged.

"I…I just don't know what to say. That's a lot to process." DJ told her truthfully.

"I knew you were going to hate me." Haley whispered as she stood up to leave.

"Wait. Haley, I don't hate you." DJ stood up and took her wrist to stop her. "God, it's just a lot to handle. I have to sort through it all. Don't I at least get that?"

"Just tell me now." Haley looked down at the ground. "Do you still want to be with me or is this all pointless?"

DJ took Haley by the shoulders and made her face him. He pulled her chin up so she would be looking at him. "Haley I love you. You know that. I just need time. I gave you time, can you do the same for me?"

"I love you, too." Haley stood up on toes to give him a passionate kiss. "Just something to remember me by, just in case you need a while." Haley told him as she turned and walked toward his door.

"Call me when ever you are ready. I'll be waiting." Haley walked out the door as a tear started rolling down her cheek. She knew he wasn't going to take it well, but that didn't stop her from hoping he would. It didn't make it hurt any less.

Haley walked back to her room to find Rachel and Peyton lying on Peyton's bed listening to music and reading magazines.

"Hey." Rachel and Peyton said simultaneously, as they both looked up and saw Haley walk through the door. She got closer and only then did they see the tear streaks on her face.

Peyton jumped off the bed and went to hug Haley. "What happened?" She asked as she ran a soothing hand up and down her back.

"I told him everything." Haley said as more tears started to fall.

Rachel came over and was hugging Haley on the opposite side of Peyton. "Shh. It's going to be okay." She told her, hoping to calm her down a little bit.

After a few minutes of letting Haley cry they pulled away and made her sit down on the bed, both of them on either side of her.

"How did he take?" Peyton asked hesitantly.

"Like I thought he would. I swear he's never going to want to see me again." Haley told them.

"Did he say that?!" Rachel asked surprised. "I'm going to kick he's ass. He doesn't know what he's losing here."

"Rachel calm down." Haley couldn't help but to laugh at her best friend. "He said he just needs time and that he still loves me."

"See, that's not bad." Peyton tried to get her to realize. "It was probably just a lot to process, but he still loves you."

"Yea, but you didn't see the look on his face. He looked…I don't know….disgusted, or something."

"I doubt that. He was just shocked." Rachel reasoned.

"Maybe. I guess only time will tell." Haley said as she walked over to her bathroom. "I need a hot shower."

"Okay. How about we do a girl's night in today?" Peyton asked.

"Yea, that sounds good." Haley agreed.

"I'll go get some junk food and Peyton you pick the movie this time." Rachel walked over to the door to go across to her room.

"Don't forget the skittles!" Haley yelled from the other side of the bathroom door.

"You and your damn skittles! I think you have a problem!" Rachel laughed.

"Yea maybe you should see someone about that." Peyton added.

"Just as soon as you see someone about your Peanut M&M's obsession!" Haley yelled back.

About twenty minutes later, they were sprawled across the floor in front of the TV, watching P.S. I Love You.

"Nice pick, Peyt." Haley said sarcastically as she leaned over and grabbed a tissue, dabbing at her eyes.

"Yea, this is definitely what we needed right now." Rachel added.

"It's not all sad. It's a great movie!" Peyton defended herself.

After the movie was over they were all pretty tired.

"I think I'm going to collapse right now if I don't go to sleep." Rachel exaggerated as she stood up and walked toward her room. "Night ladies. Love ya."

"Love you too, Rach." Peyton and Haley yelled across the hall as they climbed into their beds.

After about an hour, Haley was just starting to fall asleep she heard some light knocking noises. She sat up in her bed and looked around. Peyton was still asleep, of course; she could sleep through a tornado. She stood up and walked to the door, but when she opened it no one was on the other side. She turned her head to the right then to the left, but she couldn't see anyone. Then, she heard the noise again, coming from inside her room. She turned around just as she saw something hit her window. Haley walked over to it and opened it up. She could see a figure of someone standing on the lawn in front of her room, but it was too dark to recognize the face.

"Haley." She heard someone call out quietly. "Haley is that you? It's me."

Haley instantly knew that it was DJ. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Now?" Haley asked as she looked at her clock. "It's one o'clock."

"Yes, now." DJ emphasized. "Please just come down."

Haley looked around her room, at a sleeping Peyton. "Okay. I'll be down in a minute."

She quietly walked to her closet and grabbed a hoodie and slipped it over her head as she slipped on flip-flops. She snuck down the stairs and out the door. When she got outside DJ was standing there, waiting for her.

"Hey," he faltered.

"Hey." Haley whispered back.

"Okay, I'm just going to spit it out. I thought about it all night, and I don't care about what happened. It was your past, I mean we all have pasts right?"

"I guess, but my past was pretty bad. Are you sure you can get past something like that? I don't want you to realize weeks from now that you can't be with someone like me." Haley told him, looking him right in the eye.

"Haley, I've thought a lot about it and I just don't see how your past, no matter how bad it is, has anything to do with right now. I know you've changed and that's all that matters." DJ persisted.

"So what does this mean now?" Haley asked walking closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well I was hoping it meant that we were going to be like we were before…better than we were before." DJ smiled as he placed his hands on her hips and brought her tight against his body.

"I think we can make that work." Haley quipped as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips lightly against his.

He quickly responded and soon glided his tongue across her bottom lip and she granted access by parting her lips farther. Soon their tongues were both fighting for dominance in a hungry kiss. When air became an issue Haley pulled away, tugging on his bottom lip as she did so.

"Thank you." Haley whispered as she laid her head on his chest and hugged him close, wrapping her arms around his back.

"For what?" DJ laughed as he gently laid his hands on her hips.

"For everything. Did anyone ever tell you that you are an amazing guy?" Haley asked as she looked up into his eyes.

"You're pretty amazing yourself." DJ leaned down and placed a soft, loving kiss on her forehead. "Okay well let me walk you back to you're room before we get caught."

They walked into the building and up the stairs and stopped in front of her room. DJ leaned down and gave her a passionate kiss. "I love you." He mumbled against her lips.

"I love you, too. So much." Haley told him as they pulled apart. "Even more for you being able to look past the person I used to be."

"Of course, that's exactly what it was, the person you _used _to be and as far as I can see you are pretty perfect now." DJ placed one last soft kiss on her lips. "Good night."

"Night." Haley whispered after him as he walked back down the hall.

Haley turned around and walked back into her room, straight to her bed. She instantly fell asleep. It was the most peaceful sleep she had in a long time, until the end of her dream.

She was sleeping next to DJ, after he had just forgiven her, and she was snuggled close to his body, her head lying in the crook of his neck.

"I love you." Haley whispered into the neck.

"I love you, too." When Haley opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of piercing blue orbs instead of soft green ones. She sat up and looked around. She wasn't in a school bedroom anymore; she was in a huge, beautifully decorated room. Haley sat up and just then a little girl came running into the room and jumped on the bed.

"Mommy, Daddy, wake up!" The little girl laughed as she jumped on the bed. Haley looked at Nathan sitting next to her, a huge smile placed across his face. She looked around the room and saw a few pictures. One of her and Nathan at what seemed like their wedding and a picture of her holding a baby in her arms and Nathan hugging them both, placing a kiss on her head. She instantly felt her eyes sting with tears.

Haley shot up in her bed, sweating and breathing heavily. _What the hell was that? _Haley reached up to run hands over her face and she realized she had tear tracks down her face. She got up and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and quickly got undressed. She let the water pour over her as the tears started to fall. She has never had a dream like that before. Sure for a few days after the abortion she thought about how her life would be with Nathan as a husband and a little son or daughter running around, but she has never had a vivid dream like that before.

Haley slid against the tiled wall and fell into a ball on the floor of the shower. Sobs took over her body. She sat like that, knees pulled tight against her chest, water just falling onto her, for what seemed like hours, until the sobs started to slow.

The next morning Haley was dressed early and went to the cafeteria by herself and grabbed an apple and went straight to her first period class, even though she was about twenty minutes early. Haley was sitting in one of the desks in her Brit Lit class, with her headphones in since class didn't start for a while and she was the only one there. She heard the door slam and looked up to see Nathan walking into the room. Nathan was reading of his sheet of paper so he didn't even see anyone else was in the room until he took a seat at one of the open desks. He looked up and saw Haley staring at him. He held her gaze a while until she looked away.

Haley turned up her ipod louder and bit into her apple. After a while she finished her apple and she didn't want it to just sit on her desk so she got up to throw it away, but when she stood up her foot got stuck on her bag sitting on the floor and she tripped, basically face-planting. She stood up and her light chuckling. She turned to Nathan and saw he was trying really hard to hold in his laughter.

Haley smiled and laughed at herself. When Nathan heard her laughing he couldn't hold it in any longer; he cracked up laughing, causing Haley to glare at him before breaking into a smile.

"Looks like you didn't get over you're clumsiness." Nathan smirked as Haley walked past him to throw away her apple core.

"I don't think that's something I can get over." Haley joked.

"Probably not." Nathan sighed, with a small smile.

Haley walked back to her desk and put her headphones back in. They spent the last ten minutes before class started in an awkward silence.

"Good morning class. Today you're going to get your copy of _Jane Eyre _by Charlotte Bronte." The teacher went up and down the rows passing out the books. The rest of the class went by pretty fast, after talking about the book for a while the teacher allowed them to read silently for the rest of the period. When the bell rang the kids were already rushing out the door. Haley picked up her books from under her desk and walked to the door. She realized Nathan was still in the room taking his time getting his books into his backpack. She walked past him and he looked up at her right when she looked down at him.

"Hey." Nathan said after a moment of staring at each other in silence.

Haley blinked a few times; she didn't realize she was staring at him. "Hey."

"So this book should be interesting." Nathan said, trying to make small talk as they started walking out the door.

"Yea. I've already read it though."

"Of course you've read it." Nathan laughed.

Haley stopped walking and looked up at Nathan. "This is weird right?"

"What?" Nathan asked with a smirk, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Us talking…small chat….you being here….this whole thing." Haley told him.

"I guess." Nathan agreed. "But it doesn't have to be."

"How does it not have to be? I mean this whole situation is screwy." Haley sighed.

"Yea it is but it doesn't have to be worst then it already is. I know you and Brooke didn't get off to the best start again. But I don't really feel like going through my senior year trying to hold a grudge against you." Nathan admitted.

Haley saw the sincerity in his eyes. "I don't really want that either. I mean we can at least be cordial to each other, right?"

Nathan smiled, "Right."

"Okay, well I'm off to math." Haley started to skip off.

"With Mr. Minter?" Nathan asked as Haley turned around.

"Yea, how did you know?" Haley asked confused.

Nathan held up his schedule. "Looks like you're going to have to put up with me for two classes in a row."

Haley laughed. "Come on, I'll show you how to get there."

Nathan caught up to her and they walked down a couple halls, in a semi-comfortable silence. This was still really awkward for Haley but if Nathan was going to try to be cordial she wasn't going to deny it. She was tired of all this crap between her, him and Brooke. And now that DJ knew the truth, she had nothing to hide.

After her first five classes Haley walked to the lunch room to find Peyton and Rachel. She got her food and walked to their usual table. When she got there DJ, Luke, Skills and Rachel were there.

"Where's Peyton?" Haley asked as she plopped down next to Rachel.

"Right here, love." Peyton said in a fake British accent before cracking up laughing.

"That was the worst impression I've ever heard!" Rachel laughed.

"Yea, sorry babe that was pretty bad." Lucas added as Peyton sat down next to him. He laughed when he saw the pout on her face. He cupped her face with his hands and pulled her close to him, meeting her lips with his in a soft kiss. "You were great."

"Thanks." Peyton smiled as they pulled away.

"We're only eating over here! No biggie!" Haley joked as she took a bit of her sandwich.

"Look who it is." Rachel pointed to the tabled diagonal from them, with only Brooke and Nathan sitting at it, laughing.

Haley couldn't help but smile at the site in front of her. She missed being with them, laughing like that. _No, don't go there. Just because you are casually talking with Nathan doesn't change anything. It's way beyond repair. _Haley scolded herself. She didn't realize she was staring in their direction when Nathan shot her a small smile. She quickly tore her gaze away, down to the food in front of her.

"I'm not really hungry. I'm going to lie down before my next class; I have a headache." Haley stood up and threw away her barely touched food.

"But we only have twenty minutes left of lunch." Peyton pointed out.

"I have an open next period." Haley told them as she went across the table and gave DJ a soft kiss.

"Feel better, babe." DJ told her after they broke apart.

"I will. Are you still coming over after your practice?" Haley asked.

"Yup. I'll see you later." DJ told her.

Haley walked to her room and went straight to her bed. When she looked at Nathan today in the cafeteria the image of her dream went rushing through her. She instantly fell asleep, but the dream suddenly appeared again. This time she didn't wake up right after the little girl came running into the room. She went through her day, her day with this family that she used to once wish she would have.

She slept through the rest of her classes because she forgot to set her alarm. When DJ didn't see her in eighth period he assumed she just over slept or her headache got worse. After his soccer practice he headed over to Haley's room. He quietly opened the door and saw Haley cuddled up on her bed. He walked over to her and noticed the tear tracks on her face.

He lightly shook her, "Haley. Baby. Wake up." When she didn't stir he kissed her forehead. "Okay I'll let you sleep, love you Haley."

He turned around to walk away when he heard her whisper. "I love you, too, Nathan."

He turned back and saw that she was still in deep sleep, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. His stomach dropped at what he saw and what he heard.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: okay so that was chapter eight. Again I'm so sorry it took forever to update. I just didn't know where I wanted to take it. So leave me some love :)


	10. Holler Till You Pass Out

**AN: SOOO we meet again! lol All I can say is that I'm sorry it's been so long for the updates but maybe I'll have some out sooner next time. Senioritis has kicked in wayyy too early. I'm trying to get back into this story (I actually had to reread it a few times to remember what happened), so if there's any confusing mistakes feel free to call me out on them. Reviews are excellent; I love feed back. winkwink :) **

Holler Till You Pass Out:

It was the next day and Haley was currently sitting in her eighth period class. She was really confused. When she entered the classroom a couple minutes before the bell rang, she saw DJ sitting at his desk, reading a book. She has been looking for DJ all day, but he didn't show up to lunch.

She walked up to his desk, "Hey."

He looked up and mumbled a quiet, "Hey."

Haley leaned in to give him a kiss, but just as she got to his lips he turned his face and she ended up kissing him on the cheek.

Slightly taken aback, Haley pulled away. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." DJ replied curtly.

"Obviously, you're not." Haley pointed out.

"Look, Haley I said I'm fine. Class is starting soon. You should go sit down." DJ spat out, keeping his head in his book.

Haley turned around and walked back to her seat. _What the hell is up his ass?_

After class ended, DJ was instantly out the door. Haley jogged to catch up with him. She was determined to get some answers.

As she reached him, she put her hand on his shoulder, pulling him to a stop. "DJ. Stop for a second."

He did as she said, turning around to face her. "What?"

"What's wrong with you?" Haley asked confused. "I thought everything was fine between us?"

"Yeah, so did I."

"Well what changed between yesterday and today?"

"Why don't you tell me?" DJ retorted.

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about."

"Okay, fine. I guess I have to spell it out for you."

"I guess so." Haley replied with a little anger to her voice. She honestly has no clue what the hell made him do a quick 180 in the last few hours.

"Do you still have feelings for Nathan?" He asked her flat out.

To say Haley was shocked is an understatement. She has no clue where all this is coming from. "Of course not."

"Hmm. Really? Well your dream self obviously has a different opinion." DJ replied, his voice laced with pain and anger. He didn't even wait for a response. He turned on his heels and just walked away, ignoring her calling him back.

Haley groaned as she tried to suppress an angry scream from escaping her. Why did these stupid dreams have to start up? Right when things were going good with DJ, of course.

Haley entered her room and slammed the door close. She walked up to her bed and threw her books and purse onto it.

She didn't even notice Peyton in the room until she spoke up, "Whoa. Angry much?"

"Just a little bit." Haley stated dryly.

"Okay, what happened?" Peyton asked confused.

"Nathan is what happened!" Haley yelled as she went over to Peyton's bed and flopped down.

"Nathan?"

"Yea, Nathan."

"Okay. I'm going to need slightly more information." Peyton pried.

"Okay, so you know how I told DJ everything right?"

"Yea?"

"Okay well as you know he was fine with it and all. Then yesterday I accidently slept through my last class," Haley started telling the story before Peyton interrupted her.

"Yea I was wondering about that. You know you're going to get a cut, if you don't get it excused." Peyton so kindly pointed out.

"Peyton that is so not the point of my story!" Haley yelled.

"Sorry, no more interruptions. Promise."

"Okay, I slept through, DJ must have decided to check on me, although I didn't know that."

"How do you not know that?" Peyton interrupted again.

"Peyton!" Haley groaned.

"Well sorry that I'm confused!" Peyton squawked.

"Fine, he must have seen I was sleeping and decided to leave me alone or something."

"Oh, okay."

"….so then after class I try to talk to him, and he asks if I have feelings for Nathan and I tell him no. Then he's like 'obviously your dream self thinks differently,'" Haley just finished telling her story to an even more confused Peyton.

"Okay, I have no clue what the hell is going on. What does he mean "dream self," Peyton said using air quotes.

"Well…"

"Haley. What did you do?" Peyton asked.

"Two nights ago, I started having this weird dream…about Nathan." Haley whispered so it was barely audible.

"What exactly was it about?" Peyton questioned.

"Well the first night I was sleeping with someone and I told him I loved him and then when he said it back, it wasn't DJ, it was Nathan."

"Oh, that's bad."

"That's not all. Right after that a little girl came running in calling for mommy and daddy." Haley finished.

"Oh, man. That's definitely not good." Peyton stated. "Well I don't understand how that could upset DJ, though. It's not like he is a dream reader." Peyton laughed at her own joke but quickly sputtered to a stop when Haley was just glaring at her.

"Well, see, last night I had the same dream again, but this time I didn't wake up right when the girl came running in. I went throughout my whole day. A whole freaking day with Nathan as my husband and a baby daughter." Haley whispered the last part as a few lone tears slid down her face.

"Hales. It's going to be okay." Peyton pulled Haley into a tight hug. "Dreams don't always mean something."

"I know that, but I think DJ heard me say 'I love you, Nathan' and now he's not talking to me!" Haley blubbered as she couldn't hold in her tears anymore. "I don't even know why I'm having this dream in the first place. I don't even have any feelings for Nathan anymore."

"Are you sure?" Peyton challenged.

"Of course I'm sure!" Haley replied outraged. "I love DJ."

"I know you do, hunny. But sometimes it is possible to love more than one person. Nathan was your first love and it's hard to just forget that, especially when things don't really end, like in your case." Peyton pointed out.

"I know that Peyton. I know that Nathan was my first love, but I also know how much he hurt me and how hard it was to get over him. But I did it; I got over him and moved on."

"Are you sure? You're one hundred percent over Nathan?" Peyton asked.

"Yes, of course I am. One hundred percent." Haley said, nodding her head.

"Then you need to go tell DJ that."

"I tried. He won't even talk to me." Haley admitted.

"Well you have to make him talk to you. That's all you can do. Or give him time." Peyton advised her.

"I don't know how I can make him listen if he doesn't want to see me!" Haley yelled out, frustrated. "This is so stupid. It was just a dream. They don't mean anything."

"I don't know you'll figure something out. He's just being a douche bag." Peyton joked, nudging Haley with her elbow.

"Thanks, Peyt." Haley laughed.

"No problem." Peyton smiled as she jumped off the bed. "So are you ready to stop this cryfest and have some fun?"

"What do you have in mind?" Haley asked.

Peyton knelt on her knees and pulled something out from underneath her bed. "Well, I snatched this from the Dean's office a few days ago."

Peyton held up a bottle of Grey Goose. Haley looked at the vodka sloshing around in the bottle. The last time she drank was the day before she left for the private school. When she really needed it.

"I don't know, Peyt." Haley said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on. What's the worst that could happen?" Peyton tried to persuade her.

_More than you would like to know. _Haley thought as she mulled over her options.

Option 1: Go and try to talk to DJ. _Which is pointless. He'll probably slam the door in my face. _

Option 2: Sit alone and whine over stupid DJ. _Boring and depressing._

Option 3: Go have fun with Peyton and Rachel…and a bottle of really good throat-burning liquid. _Option three it is! _

"Okay, I'm in." Haley grinned as she walked over to Peyton and grabbed the bottle out of her hand and walked across the hall into Rachel's room.

"Party time!" Haley called out as she entered the room.

Rachel turned away from her closet and looked at Haley. Then she noticed the bottle Haley was waving in the air. "Where did you get this?!"

Rachel ran up to Haley and pulled the bottle out of her hand. She unscrewed the cap and took a whiff. "I haven't had any alcohol since summer!"

"I think it's time to forget all problems happening now with roommates or boys and just relax and have fun! Who's with me?" Peyton asked

Haley and Rachel simultaneously raised their hands.

"I'm so game!" Rachel took a swig from the open bottle and then passed it to Peyton.

She took a small chug and passed it to Haley. Haley hesitantly wrapped her hands around the bottle. Staring at the liquid for a while, Haley wondered if it was really worth it. She knew what alcohol could do to her. What type of a person it can change her into. Did she really want to take that chance just to get over some small problems she's having with DJ?

Haley brought the bottle to her lips, threw her head back and swallowed some clear liquid. I guess she will take the risk.

After drinking straight from the bottle for a few more times, they were pretty tired of the raw flavor of the vodka. Rachel grabbed three cups and a bottle of Gatorade and a can of Sprite. "Who wants what?"

"Gatorade for me!" Haley told her, while Peyton voted for the pop.

Rachel split the Gatorade in two cups and Haley followed buy filling the cups up with the Vodka.

A while later they were pretty smashed. They were blasting some music and dancing around like maniacs.

"I SAW HIM DANCING THERE BY THE RECORD MACHINE! I KNEW HE MUST HAVE BEEN ABOUT SEVENTEEN!" They yelled along with the song. Just then Brooke barged into the door.

"What the hell is going on here?!" She screamed over the music.

The three of them turned to stare at her before bursting into laughter. They just continued to dance and sing. "I LOVE ROCK N' ROLL!"

Brooke walked over and shut off the music mid-song.

"Hey!" They all protested.

"You guys are going to get in trouble!" Brooke screamed at them. "I could hear the music from the lounge downstairs."

She then smelled something in the air. She knew that smell well. "Are you guys drinking?"

"No." Haley immediately stated, but she couldn't hold in her giggles and soon collapsed on the floor in a fit of laughter. "Maybe…just a bit."

"Oh my god. You guys are going to get kicked out. You're going to get _me _kicked out!" She screamed, mainly towards Haley.

Her yelling sobered Haley up a bit, but not much. "Get off your righteous horse, Miss-Queen-of-the-drunks!"

"Oh yea, you're one to talk. Do you really think it's wise to start drinking again? You know you don't have that kind of self control. We all know what's going to happen again." Brooke walked up to her so they were face to face.

"You have NO clue what you're talking about!" Haley yelled.

"Oh, I don't? I think everyone knows, Haley. You were a freakin' mess! There's no confusion as to why you were sent here." Brooke had a wickedly sweet smile radiating from her. "Don't try to kid yourself. It's one thing to lie to us, but it's another thing completely to lie to yourself. That's just plain sad."

"You have no clue what you're talking about. You have no clue what happened to me." Haley told her coldly as she pushed past her and out the door, suddenly completely sober.

As she entered her room, the tears started to fall. She had to get out of that room. Partially because she didn't want to answer twenty questions Rachel and Peyton were sure to lay into her, but partially because everything Brooke said was dead on. She has been lying to herself, about everything.

Drinking was her only escape from her world. In an inebriated state was the only way she could get through her day. She never had to admit anything if she could barely walk, let alone think.

It was too hard for her to deal so she just didn't. She couldn't. She drank and drank some more.

Haley walked over to her bed and passed out. Soon she was lost in another dream world, or maybe a nightmare, she couldn't tell.

**AN: Okay, I know not much happened and it's been FOREVER since I've updated but all I can say is I'm sorry and that I have to get back into the groove of writing in general and in the groove of writing this story. But I might be able to update this story this weekend or maybe my other story this weekend. We'll see. Kay I'm off to read some Frankenstein and study some emotion and motivation for psych (fun ;])! Leave reviews…I love feedback. :)**


	11. Going Under

**Chapter Ten: Going under**

**AN: Okay I just realized that my storyline has a huge slip up! This is what you get for haphazardly writing stories when you know you have the worst memory ever. Lol. Anyways, I realized that at the beginning I said Lucas and Peyton were dating, but then in a flashback chapter I said it was Brucas. So to settle things I meant Chase for the Brooke flashback, not Lucas. So it's Leyton not Brucas. Okay this chapter starts with a flashback about what Haley's talking about when she keeps yelling at Brooke "You don't know what happened to me" because obviously more than the abortion happened to her because Brooke knew about it. Okay, I know that this chapter will probably upset some people. It's a sensitive issue, but it's serious and so many people go through it that writing about it is something that should happen more. Mature content.**

**This time I'll save myself…**

_With a bottle in her hand, Haley stumbled up the winding stairs. How she wound up at this party, she had no clue. But if she was telling herself the truth, she didn't give a damn. It was all the same, every day. Get up, go to the beach, meet up with people, swim, start drinking and find a party to crash. _

_Something wasn't right tonight, though. She's definitely drunk way more than she has tonight but for some reason she's about ten times more inhibited. She was stumbling up the stairs. Needing to lay down, Haley searched for a bedroom. Dizziness was warping her brain. She couldn't see the next step in front of her and she clutched the railing as she fell to her knees on the stairs. _God, what's wrong with me? Just get up. Just get up. Find a room. Sleep. Bed. Dizzy. Tir….

_Her thoughts became less and less profound before she finally passed out on the stairs. Haley never noticed that there was a senior that has been trailing her the whole night. He asked her to dance once while offering her a drink. She accepted the drink but then rejected his dance offer claiming she doesn't dance with losers. That sent him quickly seething away. _

_She didn't notice the way he eyeing her as she danced with other boys, the way he had a sick smirk gracing his lips, like he had a secret to tell. She didn't notice that he was watching her every single move over the hours. She didn't notice, but Nathan did. Because that's what he always spent his time doing: watching Haley drinks her self in to stupors night after night, party after party. He wished so much that he could help her. That's all he wanted to do. Help her. Save her. Love her. But Haley wouldn't let him back in and he really couldn't blame her. So he watched from the sidelines as the only girl he's ever loved slowly slipped away from life. _

_Nathan was plopped on a couch watching Haley dance when all of a sudden she stumbled. He was about to jump up and steady her when he remembered that he wasn't that person for her anymore. So he sat back down and watched as she continued to stumble out of the room, never fully regaining her balance, and hating himself every second for not having the balls to help her. _

_A few minutes later when Haley hadn't returned he started to get worried. Usually she would stumble into a bathroom, vomit all of the drink she consumed and then stumble back out to the dance floor and start the whole process all over again, but this time she wasn't coming back. He also noticed that the corner of the room was vacant of the leering senior. His stomach instantly knotted. _Something isn't right. Something isn't right. _He kept replaying the thought over and over as he started his search for Haley. After looking in the kitchen and the other rooms of the first floor with no sign of Haley or the burly senior, he started up the stairs. He checked the bathroom first and it was occupied by a very pissed off girl crying in the tub. _

"_My bad." Nathan closed the door before he was hit with a bottle of shampoo the girl sent his way._

_He started checking other rooms and had many more items thrown at him by horny, sex-driven teens he interrupted. There were only a couple rooms left to check and he was praying to God that it wouldn't be anymore people having sex. He turned the knob and entered slowly. When he saw that it was yet another couple he turned around. He was about to shut the door when he saw Haley's jacket lying on the ground. He turned around and looked closer and saw that the guy on top was the creepy senior and that Haley was lying under him, unconscious. Her dress was pulled up high and the ass had no pants on._

Oh, God. Oh, God. That motherfucker! _Nathan ran up to them and ripped the guy off Haley. _

"_Dude, what the fuck?!" The senior screamed at him. "Get your own girl!"_

"_I have one and you are currently trying to fucking rape her!" Nathan yelled clutching up his hands. He walked over to Haley and put her head on his lap. "Come on wake up, Hales. Hales. Hales. Come on, please wake up!" He was shaking her lightly and slapping her face a little. _

"_What the hell did you do to her!?" Nathan screamed at the guy that was putting his pants back on._

_The guy finished buttoning his pants and turned to Nathan with a smirk on his face. "Dude, it's a party. Shit happens. Calm the fuck down. She got what she fucking deserved."_

"_What she deserved? What she deserved?" Nathan screamed in anger as he ran up to the guy and slammed his body against the wall. "Well now you're going to get what you fucking deserve!"_

_He wrapped his hand around his neck. Then he took his hand back, made a fist and rammed it straight into the guy's nose. He was about to do it again when the guy shoved Nathan off. Nathan stumbled backwards and fell over some junk. The guy took it as an opportunity to kick him swiftly in the gut and sending a punch flying across his face. As Nathan lay their clutching his face, the senior ran off. _

_Nathan coughed up a little blood and groaned as he turned onto his back. _Fuck. _He attempted to sit up. A shooting pain moved through his stomach. Coughing a few more times, he attempted to sit up again. He finally got into a standing position and walked over to Haley. He looked down at her limp body. Her chest was moving up and down slowly so at least he knew that she was still breathing. _

_Tears were prickling his eyes as he just held her body tightly against his. _

"_This is all my fault." Nathan started blaming himself. "I didn't want this to happen. None of this was supposed to happen. We should be raising a baby boy or girl right now." _

_Nathan's heart was so broken right now that he couldn't control the tears once they started flowing. He didn't care, though. He was holding the broken and battered body of the love of his life. He smoothed down Haley's hair over and over again. _"It's going to be all right, I promise."

_He wasn't so much making this promise to Haley as much as he was trying to convince himself to believe it. _

_A few minutes later, he wiped away the tears and got out of the bed. Walking across the room, he grabbed Haley's jacket and walked back to where she was still lying unconscious. He pulled her dress as far back down as it would allow and slipped on her leather jacket. Tightening her arms around his neck, Nathan placed his hand under her knees and behind her back and picked her up. She was tightly clutched against his chest as they made their way downstairs. _

_Luckily, the party was simmering down and there were minimal people around. He thought he could just quickly slip right out the front door without attracting attention. _

_He was so close. As he reached his last foot off the last stair, Brooke popped out of nowhere. _

"_What are you doing?" Brooke hissed. _

"_She's drunk. I'm taking her home." Nathan told her flatly._

_Brooke noticed that Nathan appeared to have been crying. "Are you okay?"_

"_No." He whispered looking away. _

"_Nate.." Brooke started looking sadly at the broken boy in front of her carrying the even more broken girl. _

_He shook his head, trying to fight away the tears that were threatening to once again fall. "I need to get her home."_

"_Okay." Brooke hesitantly stepped out of the way. "Do you need my help?"_

"_Why would you help her?" Nathan asked her as he walked passed to the door._

"_I would be helping you not her." Brooke told him stiffly._

"_Well, I'm not the one in the need of the help right now. She needs you more than you will ever know." Nathan spoke tragically._

"_Well, she doesn't seem to think she needs me." Brooke pointed out._

"_She's scared. Can't you see that?" Nathan asked. "She's just as scared as the rest of us. She cares just as much as the rest of us and she's hurting more than the rest of us."_

_Nathan walked away at that point, leaving Brooke with tears in her eyes. Brooke looked around at the few people left at the party and how none of them were here for her. She was leaving alone again because the only true friend she had left is trying to save her other best friend, something she should have been trying to do for the past year. _

_Nathan took Haley to his house and set her gently down on his bed. He covered her with a blanket and took a seat next to her on the bed, legs crisscrossed. Nathan did not fall asleep; he did not so much as move an inch. Fear was overtaking him as every second passed that Haley was not waking up. _What if I didn't do the right thing? Should I have taken her to the hospital?

_Tears were sprinkling from his eyes and he was powerless to stop it. He grabbed Haley's hand and started rubbing smooth circles on the back of it._

"_Please, wake up." He pleaded again and again, hoping just one time she would hear him and wake up._

_His eyes were growing tired from the crying and lack of sleep, but he refused to move from his watchful position. Haley was breathing evenly and that was giving Nathan hope that she was okay, that her body was trying to overcome the drug, that she would wake up soon. _

_At about five in the morning, Haley started stirring. Nathan instantly grabbed her arm, shaking her gently. "Haley. Haley. Wake up."_

_Haley groaned and turned over so she was facing him. _

"_Come on, Hales. Wake up for me. Please." Nathan was pleading once again. _

_All of a sudden, Haley was having a coughing attack. He sat her up and patted her back as the cough started to subside. Haley slowly opened her eyes, but the light was blinding and she closed them again, trying to lie back down. _

"_No, Hales. Stay up." Nathan told her, trying to lift her back into a sitting position._

"_Nathan?" Haley peeked out from under her eyelashes. _

"_Yea, it's Nathan." He reached across to the nightstand and grabbed a glass of water. "Here, sit up and drink this."_

_She weakly and slowly pushed her body into a sitting position. Her throat was insanely dry, begging for the tiniest drop of liquid. She gladly accepted the water and chugged it. _

_When she was done, she handed back the glass. "What am I doing here?"_

"_Do you remember anything from last night?" Nathan asked her carefully._

"_A little. I remember going to a party. I remember drinking and dancing. The rest is all pretty fuzzy." Haley eyed him wryly. His sad look that he was sending her way was starting to freak her out. "Why?"_

"_Well, do you remember some senior asking you to dance?" _

"_Yea, I think so. I sent the loser away pouting." Haley slightly smiled as she remembered._

"_Do you also remember him giving you a drink first?" Nathan asked, trying to stimulate her memory, at least some of it. The graphic parts would be best if she didn't remember._

"_I think so." Haley looked at him, really looked, for the first time since waking up. His eyes were all red, as if he was crying, and his hair was mess. She started having this sick feeling in the gut of her stomach. She could kind of remember to last night when she started feeling really dizzy early into the night. Suddenly, the parts starting turning in her brain and she was putting two and two together. "God. Please, please, please tell me that he didn't slip me something?"_

_When Nathan's eyes darted down to the bed she had her answer. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "Oh, God. What happened!?" _

_Nathan looked up and into the chocolate brown eyes that were purely terrified._

"_What the hell happened!?!" She screamed when he wouldn't answer._

"_I went to find you and I walked into a room." Nathan stopped. He didn't really want to tell her all the details, but she needed to know the truth. _How am I going to tell her this?

"_Just tell me right now. Was I raped?" She vulnerably pleaded for him to answer her. She needed to know._

_Tears welled up in his eyes. His voice came out rasped and torn. "Yes."_

"_Oh, God." Haley sobbed. Tears were flowing out. She couldn't breathe; her lungs weren't filling up with the adequate amount of air. Flashes of the senior were coming back to her. The senior pulling her up off the stairs, the senior leading her to a bedroom, the senior throwing her down on the bed…_

_She tried to wipe away the tears, like they were the images themselves. It wasn't working. She still could breathe. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She was trying to suck in some oxygen, but it wasn't working. Her body didn't seem to be working right. _What's happening? Oh, God.

"_Haley, come on breathe! In and out. In and out!" Nathan screamed grabbing her by the shoulders. _

"_What's…"_

_She tried sucking in some more air. _

"_happening to me?" Haley cried, chocking on the air that her body was rejecting and the phlegm her crying was producing. _

"_You need to calm down. You're having a panic attack." Nathan guided her to breathe in and out again. She was doing as she was told but her body was working right. Her lungs weren't filling with air. She collapsed on the ground in a coughing fit. She coughed up some mucus and started trying to breathe again. _Please. _She pled with God or whatever higher being is up there just watching as she felt like she was just dying. _

_She was trying to take deep breathes. In and out. In and out. Suddenly, just for a second her lungs filled with some air. _

"_Here, drink some water." Nathan handed her a glass of water. She managed not to choke it back up. She took another big gulp. It was working. Her lungs were filling up. It was working! As she finished off the glass, her breathing started to regulate. Finally, her lungs didn't feel like they were on fire and were about to burst. _

_She collapsed into Nathan, sobbing. Nathan wrapped his arms as tight around her as he could. He held onto her for dear life while she cried out the pain. _

Nathan snapped out of his memory as Brooke continued. "…so she ran off crying."

The last time Nathan saw Haley cry was that night of their sophomore year Christmas break. That was actually the last time she talked to him, before she was sent away.

"Why did you have to bring that up and shove it in her face?" Nathan defended Haley, for what reason he had no clue.

"What do you mean? Why do you care? I actually thought you would think it was funny." Brooke told him a bit surprised that he was reacting this way.

"You thought that making Haley cry would be funny to me?" Nathan scoffed.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Brooke quickly tried to take back her words.

"Then what exactly do you mean because to me this seems like you're just trying to find the best way to hurt Haley." Nathan accused of her.

"Well, yea kind of." Brooke admitted. "I mean, don't you want to do the same thing? Hurt her the way she's hurt us?"

"I think you forgot that I was the one that hurt her first. She had all the right to do what she did. Plus, she's been through so much and it only gives her more reason to be angry and act out." Nathan argued.

"No. Having an abortion does not give you the right to become a total bitch. It does _not _give her the right to just abandon her best friend and treat her like shit!" Brooke yelled at him. "Would you just take her off that freakin' pedestal you put her on already!"

"Brooke! She's been through way more than you think and you're the one that never fought for your friendship either!" Nathan scolded Brooke's actions. He didn't know that she truly felt this much hatred for Haley.

"I tried! I did and I had enough when she wouldn't let me back in. There was nothing else I could do! And just so you know I did more than you think. I helped her the best way I could when I, personally, couldn't help her anymore." Brooke tried to convince herself of this fact as she said it out loud.

"I know that you don't think that's true. You didn't have to give up. You shouldn't have given up because when she pushed you farther and farther away was when she actually needed you the most."

Brooke knew he was right. She knew at that exact moment she gave up completely on Haley she was making a mistake, but she couldn't handle what Haley was dragging her through. Sometimes you have to look out for yourselves first.

"Did you ever think that maybe I was scared, too?" Brooke asked Nathan, brokenly.

"Scared of what?" Nathan didn't really see what she could possibly have been scared of.

"Of Haley. Losing her, not losing her, no being able to save her, giving up on her! Everything about her! I had no clue why she changed so drastically, but one thing I knew was that I didn't want to be the next one to be spinning out of control. So, yes, I admit it. I shouldn't have given up on Haley, but I was selfish and scared. I needed to look out for myself before anything. I was sixteen and just plain tired."

"I understand. Truly, I do, but I never could have just left her." Nathan shook his head at the thought of it.

"But you did, didn't you." Brooke glared at him. She was tired of him making her look like a complete, selfish bitch. She didn't do this to Haley and it's not her fault she couldn't get through to her.

The hurt that appeared in Nathan's eyes instantly made Brooke wish she could take it all back. He looked up at her and his eyes were glossed over with watery liquid. Suddenly, though, his eyes lost all emotion and his stare became soulless. "You're right. I did this to her and there's not a single second that I wish I could take back everything."

Nathan turned around and walked out of Brooke's room. He ran down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. The tears were prickly his eyes but he didn't want them to come so he started running. He kept running away the anger that was filling his body. He managed to get to the back of the school where all of the sports fields and courts are located. He was getting out a basketball he hid between a tree and the cement wall when he heard two voices arguing. Nathan looked up and saw that it was Haley and DJ.

Subconsciously, Nathan hides behind the tree and listens to their conversation.

"No, Haley!" DJ yelled. "I'm tired of all this crap."

"What crap? It was a dream! It didn't mean _anything!_" Haley pleaded with him.

"No, I know it meant something. You said you fucking loved him! Not me, him!" DJ turned and slammed the basketball he was holding against the backboard.

Haley flinched, tears sprouting to her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed.

"That's not enough anymore. I can't be a replacement for him. I won't be." DJ stressed. "I know there's something between you and it never ended properly. I know you have feelings for him."

Haley cried harder, "I don't! I swear."

"Stop lying." DJ told her tiredly. "I'm tired of all the lies. You don't want me the same way you want him and I'm not okay with that. I'm done. Not angry just done."

"No!" Haley balled, running up to him and grabbing on his forearm. "_You_ are the one I want, not him! Please, don't do this."

"I'm sorry." That's all he had left in him to say. He couldn't be a part of this relationship anymore; it was too hard.

DJ walked away leaving Haley crying and alone. She went and sat on a picnic table next to the court. With her head in her hands, she sat and sobbed.

Nathan was still behind the tree, only a few feet away. He didn't know what to do. Should he go and talk to her?

He decided he couldn't leave her like that, so he stepped out of his shadow and made his way to the table. He sat down next to her, "Hey."

Haley turned at gazed at him. She scoffed, "I'm guessing you just loved seeing that."

"You know that's not true, Haley."

"Whatever." Haley wiped away at her tear-streaked face.

"Are you okay?" Nathan was concerned about her. She couldn't deal with much more before she finally snapped again.

She looked at him and his eyes were piercing with genuine concern. "No."

Nathan shook his head in understanding. After a couple minutes of silence he spoke, "I was hoping that you going away would do some good for you, you know. But I was scared because then I wouldn't be able to watch over you anymore."

Haley laughed softly. "Watching over me? What are you some kind of stalker?"

Nathan chuckled, "No, I was a worried best friend."

She stopped laughing and looked at him from under her bangs. "Well, I'm glad you did watch over me or else I know I wouldn't have made it after that night."

Nathan knew what night she was talking about. She didn't have to go in any further descriptions. "Well, I wish I was a little earlier on that night."

"Better late than never, right?" She nudged him with her elbow. "But honestly, I never got to say how much I am grateful to you that day."

"Yea, what exactly happened after you ran off?" Nathan always wanted to know.

"Well, I went home and showered in scolding water and then sat on my bed and drank a bottle of vodka." Haley started. "Then I stumbled around to the beach and drank some more. Then I came home to find my bags packed and the next thing I knew I was on a plane coming here."

"Wow, that must have been a shock."

"Actually, not really. I knew something was coming sooner or later. I was just really glad they didn't send me to rehab, but then I got here and met Peyton and Rachel and I actually started becoming my old self. I was starting to be happy again." Haley smiled brightly.

"That's great, honestly. I'm so happy that this place had such an impact on you." Nathan emphasized just how happy he was that Haley was getting better.

"Me too." Haley stood up and turned to walk away. "I think I should go."

"Are you sure? Do you need any help with anything?" Nathan stood up too.

"No, you've saved me enough. I think this time I'll save myself." Haley smiled at him and walked away.

Haley didn't admit it but what truly made the first impact on her was Nathan the night she was raped. Throughout the day, after she left his house, she started getting flashes of things that happened; flashes of everything Nathan was telling her throughout the night. How Nathan stood up for her to Brooke and how dead right his words were. He first made her realize what she's turned into and what she's turned her life into.

**AN: Phew. So there is chapter ten. How did you like it? I know it was pretty sensitive issues so I'm sorry if I upset anyone. Please review and tell me your thought (good or bad) on this chapter. ******


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